Background

The Super Bowl is the most-watched annual event in the world. According to Nielsen, 113 million viewers watched Super Bowl LVII in 2023. This means sports fans are not the only ones tuning in to the final game of the National Football League (NFL) season.

The Super Bowl—being the spectacle that it is—needs to attract as many people as possible. Commercials have become can’t-miss television as companies deliver their best advertisements (at a high cost) while they have the most eyes on them. The halftime show is its own spectacle in the middle of the broadcast headlined by A-list performers. Sometimes even those in attendance can drive viewership, such as Taylor Swift.

This is also a big event for sports betting—specifically proposition bets (or prop bets). These bets capture events that are not directly tied to the result of the game. For example, a bet on the quarterback passing for a certain amount of yards is a player prop bet. There are also game prop bets, such as what the first scoring play will be (i.e. touchdown, field goal, or safety).

And then there are the exotic prop bets. These can range from guessing the result of the coin flip to the first commercial after kickoff and even if there will be a wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show.

One such prop bet in this group is the length of the national anthem. Much like the halftime show performers, the singer of the Star Spangled Banner is a well-known music artist, enough that oddsmakers will set betting lines for the duration of this rendition.

I’ve placed these bets before as a goofy way to feel invested in this event. It’s admittedly a fun time when you are watching with friends while simultaneously focusing on your phone timer, sweating as you chant to encourage the performer to hit the over. However, it is difficult to keep track of the pace of the song until it approaches the end.

I wanted to create a python script that would help me pace the Star Spangled Banner.

Workflow

Lyric Preparation

I first retrieved the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner. My idea was that I could take the target time, divide by the number of words, and assign that value to each word. However, this solution would be quite trivial because not every word should be assigned the same amount of time. For example, the word “gallantly” should not be sung with the same time allotment as “broad.”

Instead, I parsed through Star Spangled Banner sheet music and counted each word’s length in notes.

Word Note Length
O 0.1875
say 0.25
can 0.25
you 0.25
see 0.5
by 0.125
the 0.0625
dawn’s 0.25
early 0.5
light 0.5
What 0.125
so 0.125
proudly 0.375
we 0.25
hail’d 0.5
at 0.125
the 0.125
twilight’s 0.5
last 0.25
gleaming 0.5
Whose 0.125
broad 0.0625
stripes 0.25
and 0.25
bright 0.25
stars 0.5
through 0.125
the 0.0625
perilous 0.75
fight 0.5
O’er 0.125
the 0.125
ramparts 0.375
we 0.25
watch’d 0.5
were 0.125
so 0.125
gallantly 0.75
streaming 0.5
And 0.125
the 0.125
rocket’s 0.5
red 0.25
glare 0.5
the 0.125
bombs 0.125
bursting 0.5
in 0.25
air 0.5
Gave 0.25
proof 0.25
through 0.125
the 0.25
night 0.5
that 0.125
our 0.125
flag 0.25
was 0.25
still 0.25
there 0.5
O 0.25
say 0.25
does 0.25
that 0.25
star-spangled 0.75
banner 0.5
yet 0.25
wave 0.5
O’er 0.125
the 0.125
land 0.375
of 0.125
the 0.125
free 0.5
and 0.125
the 0.125
home 0.25
of 0.125
the 0.25
brave 0.5

The next step is to convert these note lengths into note shares. This will effectively give each word a percent value for its time length relative to the entire song.

Word Note Length Note Share (%)
O 0.1875 0.81
say 0.25 1.08
can 0.25 1.08
you 0.25 1.08
see 0.5 2.16
by 0.125 0.54
the 0.0625 0.27
dawn’s 0.25 1.08
early 0.5 2.16
light 0.5 2.16
What 0.125 0.54
so 0.125 0.54
proudly 0.375 1.62
we 0.25 1.08
hail’d 0.5 2.16
at 0.125 0.54
the 0.125 0.54
twilight’s 0.5 2.16
last 0.25 1.08
gleaming 0.5 2.16
Whose 0.125 0.54
broad 0.0625 0.27
stripes 0.25 1.08
and 0.25 1.08
bright 0.25 1.08
stars 0.5 2.16
through 0.125 0.54
the 0.0625 0.27
perilous 0.75 3.24
fight 0.5 2.16
O’er 0.125 0.54
the 0.125 0.54
ramparts 0.375 1.62
we 0.25 1.08
watch’d 0.5 2.16
were 0.125 0.54
so 0.125 0.54
gallantly 0.75 3.24
streaming 0.5 2.16
And 0.125 0.54
the 0.125 0.54
rocket’s 0.5 2.16
red 0.25 1.08
glare 0.5 2.16
the 0.125 0.54
bombs 0.125 0.54
bursting 0.5 2.16
in 0.25 1.08
air 0.5 2.16
Gave 0.25 1.08
proof 0.25 1.08
through 0.125 0.54
the 0.25 1.08
night 0.5 2.16
that 0.125 0.54
our 0.125 0.54
flag 0.25 1.08
was 0.25 1.08
still 0.25 1.08
there 0.5 2.16
O 0.25 1.08
say 0.25 1.08
does 0.25 1.08
that 0.25 1.08
star-spangled 0.75 3.24
banner 0.5 2.16
yet 0.25 1.08
wave 0.5 2.16
O’er 0.125 0.54
the 0.125 0.54
land 0.375 1.62
of 0.125 0.54
the 0.125 0.54
free 0.5 2.16
and 0.125 0.54
the 0.125 0.54
home 0.25 1.08
of 0.125 0.54
the 0.25 1.08
brave 0.5 2.16

Time Application

Below is every Super Bowl national anthem performance from 1991 to 2023 (copied from this article).

Super Bowl Year Performer Time
57 2023 Chris Stapleton 2:01
56 2022 Mickey Guyton 1:52
55 2021 Jazmine Sullivan & Eric Church 2:16
54 2020 Demi Lovato 1:49
53 2019 Gladys Knight 1:49
52 2018 Pink 1:53
51 2017 Luke Bryan 2:04
50 2016 Lady Gaga 2:09
49 2015 Idina Menzel 2:04
48 2014 Renee Fleming 1:54
47 2013 Alicia Keys 2:35
46 2012 Kelly Clarkson 1:34
45 2011 Christina Aguilera 1:54
44 2010 Carrie Underwood 1:47
43 2009 Jennifer Hudson 2:10
42 2008 Jordin Sparks 1:54
41 2007 Billy Joel 1:30
40 2006 Aaron Neville & Aretha Franklin 2:08
39 2005 US Military Academy Choirs 1:52
38 2004 Beyoncé 2:09
37 2003 Dixie Chicks 1:36
36 2002 Mariah Carey 1:56
35 2001 Backstreet Boys 1:50
34 2000 Faith Hill 2:01
33 1999 Cher 1:55
32 1998 Jewel 1:27
31 1997 Luther Vandross 1:53
30 1996 Vanessa Williams 1:35
29 1995 Kathie Lee Gifford 1:40
28 1994 Natalie Cole 2:33
27 1993 Garth Brooks 1:45
26 1992 Harry Connick Jr. 2:06
25 1991 Whitney Houston 1:54

The shortest national anthem was 1:30 in 2007 by Billy Joel; the longest was 2:35 in 2013 by Alicia Keys. Reba McEntire is announced to be the 2024 performer, and her FanDuel line sits at 89.5 seconds (other sportsbooks may vary). This line suggests this rendition could be the shortest performance in Super Bowl history.

Betting line for national anthem length (in seconds) on FanDuel.

Figure 1: Betting line for national anthem length (in seconds) on FanDuel.

Using 89.5 seconds as the input, I multiplied that by each note share and performed a cumulative sum. The result below acts as a tracker for all lyrics in the national anthem.

Word Time
O 0:00.0
say 0:00.7
can 0:01.7
you 0:02.7
see 0:03.6
by 0:05.6
the 0:06.0
dawn’s 0:06.3
early 0:07.3
light 0:09.2
What 0:11.1
so 0:11.6
proudly 0:12.1
we 0:13.5
hail’d 0:14.5
at 0:16.4
the 0:16.9
twilight’s 0:17.4
last 0:19.4
gleaming 0:20.3
Whose 0:22.3
broad 0:22.7
stripes 0:23.0
and 0:23.9
bright 0:24.9
stars 0:25.9
through 0:27.8
the 0:28.3
perilous 0:28.5
fight 0:31.4
O’er 0:33.4
the 0:33.9
ramparts 0:34.3
we 0:35.8
watch’d 0:36.8
were 0:38.7
so 0:39.2
gallantly 0:39.7
streaming 0:42.6
And 0:44.5
the 0:45.0
rocket’s 0:45.5
red 0:47.4
glare 0:48.4
the 0:50.3
bombs 0:50.8
bursting 0:51.3
in 0:53.2
air 0:54.2
Gave 0:56.1
proof 0:57.1
through 0:58.1
the 0:58.5
night 0:59.5
that 1:01.4
our 1:01.9
flag 1:02.4
was 1:03.4
still 1:04.3
there 1:05.3
O 1:07.2
say 1:08.2
does 1:09.2
that 1:10.1
star-spangled 1:11.1
banner 1:14.0
yet 1:16.0
wave 1:16.9
O’er 1:18.9
the 1:19.3
land 1:19.8
of 1:21.3
the 1:21.8
free 1:22.2
and 1:24.2
the 1:24.7
home 1:25.1
of 1:26.1
the 1:26.6
brave 1:27.6
[end] 1:29.5

Final Thoughts

There is a lot of nuance with this method of pacing the national anthem; for example, some performers like to hold the “free” longer than what the note length dictates. One way around this is to standardize lyric lengths for each performer and run simulations on the aggregate of these length variances. While this might give a more real answer and therefore make the sheet music element obsolete, it would take significantly more time than I’d like to spend on this project.

I had a fun time working on this project and giving a lot of effort towards something that does not warrant it. In fact, I had so much fun that I did a somewhat related side project.

Alternative Implementation

If you are a baseball fan, then you are familiar with the baseball statistics website Baseball-Reference.com. For many fans, this is the go-to resource for getting information on every player and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) history.

And one fan created a parody of the Star Spangled Banner using only names from Baseball-Reference.com.

So naturally I did the same process for this parody as I did for the Star Spangled Banner. I first manually retrieved every lyric along with the player’s full name and Baseball-Reference page (in case you’re interested).

Player Full Name Page
José Canseco José Canseco https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cansejo01.shtml
Byers Randy Byers https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/byersra01.shtml
Dawson Andre Dawson https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dawsoan01.shtml
Lee Derrek Lee https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leede02.shtml
Light Pat Light https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lightpa01.shtml
Watson Tony Watson https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/watsoto01.shtml
Prough Bill Prough https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/prougbi01.shtml
Dell Wheezer Dell https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dellwh01.shtml
Lee Cliff Lee https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leecl02.shtml
Hale David Hale https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/haleda02.shtml
Acta Manny Acta https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/actama99.shtml
Twining Twink Twining https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/twinitw01.shtml
Lasley Bill Lasley https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/laslebi01.shtml
Mintz Steve Mintz https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mintzst01.shtml
Hu Chin-lung Hu https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/huch01.shtml
Baird Bob Baird https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bairdbo01.shtml
Strike John Strike https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/strikjo01.shtml
Cantz Bart Cantz https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/cantzba01.shtml
Bright Harry Bright https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/brighha01.shtml
Starr Dick Starr https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/starrdi01.shtml
Throop George Throop https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/throoge01.shtml
Paul Powell Paul Powell https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/powelpa01.shtml
Lis Joe Lis https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/lisjo01.shtml
Flythe Stu Flythe https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/flythst01.shtml
Odor Rougned Odor https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/odorro01.shtml
Rand Dick Rand https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/randdi01.shtml
Partch Curtis Partch https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/partccu01.shtml
Weeks Rickie Weeks https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/weeksri01.shtml
Koch Billy Koch https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kochbi01.shtml
Wordsworth Favel Wordsworth https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wordsfa01.shtml
Gallen Zac Gallen https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/galleza01.shtml
Lee Braxton Lee https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leebr01.shtml
Street Huston Street https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/streehu01.shtml
Mann Brandon Mann https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mannbr01.shtml
Anna Dean Anna https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/annade01.shtml
Rockett Pat Rockett https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rockepa01.shtml
Rettger George Rettger https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rettgge01.shtml
Dahl David Dahl https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dahlda01.shtml
Bonds Barry Bonds https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bondsba01.shtml
Bruske Jim Bruske https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bruskji01.shtml
King Curtis King https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/k/kingcu01.shtml
Inge Brandon Inge https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/i/ingebr01.shtml
Eyre Willie Eyre https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/eyrewi01.shtml
Babe Ruth Babe Ruth https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/ruthba01.shtml
Toole Steve Toole https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/toolest01.shtml
Lon Knight Lon Knight https://www.baseball-reference.com/managers/knighlo01.shtml
Thatcher Joe Thatcher https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/thatcjo01.shtml
Flager Wally Flager https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/flagewa01.shtml
Stillwell Kurt Stillwell https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/stillku01.shtml
José De La Torre José De La Torre https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/delatjo01.shtml
Spangler Al Spangler https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/spangal01.shtml
Bannon Jimmy Bannon https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bannoji01.shtml
Yett Rich Yett https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/y/yettri01.shtml
Cave Jake Cave https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/caveja01.shtml
Orr Pete Orr https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/orrpe01.shtml
Dull Ryan Dull https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/dullry01.shtml
Land Doc Land https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/landdo01.shtml
Devers Rafael Devers https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/d/deverra01.shtml
Freese David Freese https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/freesda01.shtml
Pat Mahomes Pat Mahomes https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mahompa01.shtml
Sanó Miguel Sanó https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sanomi01.shtml
Graves Danny Graves https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/graveda01.shtml

Then I mapped each player to the sheet music to get their length in notes and calculate their note share.

Player Note Length Note Share (%)
José Canseco 1.4375 6.22
Byers 0.1875 0.81
Dawson 0.5 2.16
Lee 0.25 1.08
Light 0.5 2.16
Watson 0.25 1.08
Prough 0.21875 0.95
Dell 0.03125 0.14
Lee 0.375 1.62
Hale 0.5 2.16
Acta 0.25 1.08
Twining 0.5 2.16
Lasley 0.5 2.16
Mintz 0.25 1.08
Hu 0.125 0.54
Baird 0.0625 0.27
Strike 0.25 1.08
Cantz 0.25 1.08
Bright 0.25 1.08
Starr 0.5 2.16
Throop 0.125 0.54
Paul Powell 0.5625 2.43
Lis 0.25 1.08
Flythe 0.5 2.16
Odor 0.25 1.08
Rand 0.25 1.08
Partch 0.125 0.54
Weeks 0.25 1.08
Koch 0.5 2.16
Wordsworth 0.25 1.08
Gallen 0.5 2.16
Lee 0.25 1.08
Street 0.25 1.08
Mann 0.25 1.08
Anna 0.25 1.08
Rockett 0.5 2.16
Rettger 0.75 3.24
Dahl 0.125 0.54
Bonds 0.125 0.54
Bruske 0.25 1.08
King 0.25 1.08
Inge 0.25 1.08
Eyre 0.5 2.16
Babe Ruth 0.5 2.16
Toole 0.125 0.54
Lon Knight 0.75 3.24
Thatcher 0.25 1.08
Flager 0.5 2.16
Stillwell 0.75 3.24
José De La Torre 1.25 5.41
Spangler 0.5 2.16
Bannon 0.5 2.16
Yett 0.25 1.08
Cave 0.5 2.16
Orr 0.125 0.54
Dull 0.125 0.54
Land 0.375 1.62
Devers 0.25 1.08
Freese 0.5 2.16
Pat Mahomes 0.5 2.16
Sanó 0.375 1.62
Graves 0.5 2.16

The creator sang this rendition in 63 seconds, so that is what I will use for my input.

Player Time
José Canseco 0:00.0
Byers 0:03.9
Dawson 0:04.4
Lee 0:05.8
Light 0:06.5
Watson 0:07.8
Prough 0:08.5
Dell 0:09.1
Lee 0:09.2
Hale 0:10.2
Acta 0:11.6
Twining 0:12.3
Lasley 0:13.6
Mintz 0:15.0
Hu 0:15.7
Baird 0:16.0
Strike 0:16.2
Cantz 0:16.9
Bright 0:17.5
Starr 0:18.2
Throop 0:19.6
Paul Powell 0:19.9
Lis 0:21.5
Flythe 0:22.1
Odor 0:23.5
Rand 0:24.2
Partch 0:24.9
Weeks 0:25.2
Koch 0:25.9
Wordsworth 0:27.2
Gallen 0:27.9
Lee 0:29.3
Street 0:30.0
Mann 0:30.6
Anna 0:31.3
Rockett 0:32.0
Rettger 0:33.4
Dahl 0:35.4
Bonds 0:35.8
Bruske 0:36.1
King 0:36.8
Inge 0:37.5
Eyre 0:38.1
Babe Ruth 0:39.5
Toole 0:40.9
Lon Knight 0:41.2
Thatcher 0:43.2
Flager 0:43.9
Stillwell 0:45.3
José De La Torre 0:47.3
Spangler 0:50.7
Bannon 0:52.1
Yett 0:53.5
Cave 0:54.1
Orr 0:55.5
Dull 0:55.8
Land 0:56.2
Devers 0:57.2
Freese 0:57.9
Pat Mahomes 0:59.3
Sanó 1:00.6
Graves 1:01.6
[end] 1:03.0

Did I do this extra work for something that has zero use cases? You’re welcome.

I appreciate you reading this blog on tracking the Star Spangled Banner (and its parody). If you’re still interested and want to see my code, here is the link to the GitHub repository.