The NFL season just kicked off and the Super Bowl may be five months away, but that hasn’t stopped people from speculating about who will headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Super Bowl LIII will be held in Atlanta on February 3, 2019, and many pundits have already chimed in on who they believe should receive top billing during halftime. Online sportsbook BetDSI has released betting odds on who will headline the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show in Atlanta, and you may be a bit surprised by the favorites.
Super Bowl LIII Halftime Artist
The Chainsmokers +250
Pink +500
Rihanna +600
Ludacris +800
Taylor Swift +800
Britney Spears +1000
Outkast +1000
Carrie Underwood +1200
Bruno Mars +1200
T.I. +1500
Gucci Mane +1800
Kendrick Lemar +1800
Nicki Minaj +2000
Ed Sheeran +2200
Eminem +2200
Childish Gambino +2500
Adele +2500
Macklemore +2800
Field (Any other artist) +150
One of the hottest musical acts in the world right now are The Chainsmokers. They have produced a number of hits over the last two years, and their catchy music and crossover appeal have them rumored to be the NFL’s choice. The Chainsmokers don’t have the history and resonance with older fans that some of the other acts on this list do, but the NFL is losing young fans to other sports and choosing this group could appeal to younger viewers.
Pink is the next favorite on the list. She has been rumored as a potential Super Bowl headliner for years now, and she gave a memorable national anthem prior to Super Bowl LII back in February. Lady Gaga performed the national anthem prior to Super Bowl L and was invited back to do the Super Bowl LI Halftime Show, so there is precedent for using the anthem as an audition. Her pick would resonate with a lot of people after a two-decade long career.
After such a long and smashingly successful career, Rihanna seems like she would be a good choice to headline the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show too. She has made dozens of hits over more than a decade in the music business, and is arguably the most popular artist to not have been invited yet. It’s possible that the NFL has not invited her because of her troubled past with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, but her popularity has her listed among the favorites.
There have been calls for the NFL to select a hip-hop artist this year too. The NFL has shied away from hip-hop artists for over three decades, but this year’s show is in Atlanta, a hotbed for hip-hop. Bruno Mars went to Twitter the day after Super Bowl LII to express this desire, and it was quickly picked up across the platform.
That has pushed down the odds of Atlanta-based acts Ludacris, Outkast, T.I., and Gucci Mane. Ludacris already has cross-over appeal because of his successful acting career, and he made a number of hits in the 2000s. Outkast may be the local favorite though, as Big Boi and Andre 3000 helped bring hip-hop into the national spotlight in the late 1990s and early 2000s. T.I. and Gucci Mane are considered longer shots as they don’t have the mainstream recognition that Ludacris and Outkast do.
