The Super Bowl kicks off with one of the most iconic rituals in sports: the coin toss.
This simple yet crucial moment determines which team will start with the ball, and while it might seem like just a formality, it’s become a spectacle in its own right. In recent years, it has evolved into a favorite prop bet for NFL fans, adding another layer of excitement to the already high-stakes game.
Since 1978, a celebrity has been chosen to flip the coin, giving the moment a touch of glamour and drawing even more attention. However, it hasn’t always gone smoothly.
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A memorable blunder occurred in 2012 when Pro Football Hall of Famer Curtis Martin was set to flip the coin, only for referee John Parry to step in by mistake. The coin toss typically happens three minutes before the game begins, adding a brief but important ritual before the real action starts.
Usually, the coin is a standard quarter, but sometimes referees bring custom coins or even special Super Bowl-themed designs. Still, as much as this moment is celebrated, it offers no advantage to either team. It’s a 50-50 chance, and whether you call heads or tails, it doesn’t sway the outcome of the game.
As per current NFL rules, the captains of both teams meet at the 50-yard line before kickoff to decide who will start with the ball. The visiting team’s captain traditionally gets to call “heads” or “tails” as the referee flips the coin.
Before 2008, teams almost always elected to receive the ball after winning the coin toss, but that has changed in recent years.
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More teams now prefer to defer, choosing to start with the ball in the second half instead. The coin toss ceremony is a brief yet ceremonial affair: captains often shake hands or hug before the referee explains the game’s rules and ensures the game is played cleanly, free from foul language or unnecessary hits.
The referee then displays the coin, flips it, and the visiting captain calls it in the air. Once the coin lands, the winning captain is given the options: kick, receive, defer, or choose which direction to defend.
While the saying among fans “tails never fails” is widely known, the stats tell a different story.
Over the first 58 Super Bowls, tails has a slight edge, winning 30 times compared to heads’ 28. In fact, tails has won six of the last nine tosses, though heads is currently on a two-game winning streak.
The longest streak for heads was five straight wins, from Super Bowl XLIII to Super Bowl XLVII, which is a rare occurrence with only a 3% chance of happening. Tails, on the other hand, has had three separate streaks of four wins in a row.
Looking at the overall results, the team that wins the coin toss has gone on to win the game 26 times and lost 32 times.
Interestingly, of the 26 teams that won both the toss and the game, 17 were the favorites according to the betting odds, mirroring the overall trend in Super Bowl history where favorites win about 66% of the time.
There’s no clear advantage between heads and tails when it comes to winning the game after the toss, as both sides have resulted in 13 wins each. The Cowboys hold the record for the most coin toss victories, with six, followed by the 49ers with five, and the Dolphins and Rams with four each.
Despite its simplicity, the coin toss is a pivotal moment in the Super Bowl, one that carries weight far beyond its apparent randomness.
Whether it’s the star power of a celebrity flipping the coin, the suspense in the air, or the potential for the toss to influence the game’s flow, this brief tradition has become a vital part of the spectacle.
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