The Super Bowl is more than just the Chiefs Vs Eagles, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a carnival. Companies go crazy over advertisements alone and spend millions of dollars because they know countless people will be tuning in. And you obviously know about the halftime show—without it, the whole event would feel like a burger without a patty.  Michael Jackson brought the wave of modern-day halftime shows and over the years it became a huge thing. Now, it’s like a bucket list for every artist to make it to this big event. This year, the stage will be under the spell of Kendrick Lamar, who recently won 5 Grammys. 

You know what else is the highlight? The honor of singing the American national anthem before the kickoff. The chance to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl, can be considered a milestone. Multi-Grammy winner Jon Batiste will be the heart of the SB LIX. He did it before at the NBA All-Star game back in ‘17. But the most exciting part of it all is the fun tradition around the whole national anthem performance. Party bettors and sports fans bet on the length of the anthem. I know, right? Sounds pretty bizarre. People will do anything to keep the party going and we are here to take a tour down that road.

How long is the Super Bowl national anthem?

We all know that “The Star-Spangled Banner” is around 1 minute and 15 seconds long. But it all depends on the artist and the way they perform it. The Super Bowl has witnessed it over the years—some performances going over 120 seconds and some going under. And that’s exactly where the betting begins. It’s never certain how long the anthem will last. Will the artist use a piano? Will a player or coach cry? People bet on all sorts of things related to this mega-event.

Jon Batiste is a musician’s musician. There’s no instrument he can’t handle beautifully. There’s no note he can’t touch smoothly. Batiste has performed the national anthem many times, in many different ways. He’s strummed it out on guitar, tickled the ivories, and even sung a cappella. So, the door is wide open for predictions. Batiste recently told Entertainment Tonight, “I’m excited to figure out an arrangement that will last the test of time, and I look forward to sharing it. The week before is when I’ll just finally start to finalize it. And then it’s gonna fly.”

What have been the lengths of past Super Bowl national anthems?

The Super Bowl has been blessed with a lot of legendary artists coming and singing the national anthem. But this whole trend of tracking the time duration closely started back in ’07 when Billy Joel performed, clocking in at just 1 minute and 30 seconds. Before that, while some anthems were notably short or long, there wasn’t as much focus on whether a performance would go “over” or “under” a set time. Interestingly, the shortest rendition in Super Bowl history belongs to Neil Diamond, who delivered a no-frills, 62-second performance in 1987—far from the dramatic, drawn-out renditions we often see today.

Over the years, performances have generally trended longer. But Alicia Keys’ 2-minute, 36-second rendition in 2013 set a new standard. Following her, many artists stretched their performances beyond the two-minute mark, with seven of the last 11 anthems clearing that threshold. However, there have still been exceptions, like Pink in 2018 and Mickey Guyton in 2022, proving that while the anthem is getting longer on average, there’s still room for surprises. In the end, it doesn’t matter how long or short the anthem will be—it’ll surely be magical and a great kickstart to the big dance.