William Perry scored in the 1986 Super Bowl and started the prop bet craze
Caesars Sportsbook has dozens of prop bets NFL fans could wager on for Sunday's Super Bowl between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Caesars became the first sportsbook to offer a prop bet when it offered a 20-1 bet Chicago Bears defensive end William "The Refrigerator" Perry would score a touchdown against the New England Patriots during the 1986 Super Bowl.
A lot of money came in on Perry to score. And by the time that game kicked off 38 years ago, the odds came down to 2-1.
Perry scored a touchdown, and there was a nice payday for some bettors.
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William "The Refrigerator" Perry (72) in action, scoring a touchdown against the New England Patriots in New Orleans. (Richard Mackson/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
"I think Caesars hit the bullseye of it," Caesars Sportsbook Chief Operating Officer and Head of Sports Ken Fuchs told Fox News Digital in Las Vegas. "In 1986, we wanted to have a little fun, and we created a prop bet around ‘The Fridge’ scoring a touchdown for the Bears in that ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ season. Of course, he did. The ball did not go to Walter Payton. It went to ‘The Fridge.’ He scored. It cashed for customers, and the prop bet was born.
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"And then you look at the way customers in the U.S. markets develop fantasy sports, celebrity players. I think it’s just natural. People love to bet on the player. They love to follow them for their fantasy team. They have a lot of knowledge on their stats and how they're performing.
"You’ve just seen this evolution where people still want to know and bet on who’s gonna win the game with the player prop and all the derivative markets off of that. It’s really become a core part of our offering."
A Super Bowl display outside Caesars in Las Vegas. (Caesars)
Fuchs said he wasn’t surprised how prop betting has exploded since then. He said the prop bet adds another feature to the game that even brings casual bettors to the market.
"I really do think fantasy sports laid the groundwork for this over the last 25 years," he said. "Box scores in the newspaper, it’s just part of our culture — having favorite players, knowing exactly what they did in the game. And now you can put that intelligence to use in the markets when you’re actually betting.
"Out of that you get a lot of derivatives – the first touchdown score. Will a field goal hit the uprights? You can have a lot of run with it too. And I think the Super Bowl especially brings in people who love the game, and they’re gonna bet on the game. You bring in a lot of people that are more casual, and so they’re just finding something fundamental. And I think we do that better than anybody."
Aside from props like will a defensive player score a touchdown or will a field goal hit an upright, Caesars is offering themed bets for the Super Bowl.
"We do have a few Taylor Swift boosts," Fuchs told Fox News Digital. "There’s a couple of others like that as well. She’s certainly a cultural part of this game. And, for us, I think it’s just another way to have fun."
Taylor Swift walked with Donna Kelce onto the field after the AFC championship game. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Some of the themed bets include the "tortured defenses department," which means Brock Purdy has to have at least two touchdown passes, Patrick Mahomes has to throw for at least 250 yards, Christian McCaffrey has to score a touchdown, Travis Kelce needs at least seven catches and Deebo Samuel needs at least five catches. It’s +700, and a $20 bet could yield a winner $140.
Ahead of kickoff, the 49ers are 1.5-point favorites. They started at 2-point favorites.
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Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.