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Sports Interaction is getting ready for the Super Bowl 2010 and all the betting that comes with it but Halftime Song odds (that would have been in conjunction with The Who and Pete Townsend's performance) won't be a part of the mix as they were with last year's Super Bowl betting.
Miami, February 3rd, 2009. He was famous for smashing guitars during his 'sixties heyday, but The Who's Pete Townsend has just inadvertently shorted out one of the most popular novelty features of Super Bowl betting.
You might recall last year that Bruce Springsteen Halftime Song odds was among the most popular of the Super Bowl betting prop bets. Everyone was trying to guess which songs he would perform and in what order.
Sports Interaction, the first online sportsbook licensed and regulated in North America, takes bets every year on what the first song of the half-time act will be, as part of the hundreds of bet types they offer on the biggest game of the year. Legendary 'sixties band The Who are doing the half-time show at Super Bowl XLIV, and Sports Interaction had set odds on what their first song would be, with the 1971 classic Won't Get Fooled Again among the favorites.
And then Townsend revealed the set list in an interview with Billboard magazine on Saturday, and Sports Interaction had to close their book on the half-time show.
"The Super Bowl isn't just about NFL betting," says Frank Doyle of Sports Interaction. "A lot of people with no interest in sports betting like to bet on the novelty markets, and First Song is one of those. But now that Townsend has discussed the set list in Billboard, we've had to suspend betting because the number of songs was reduced from twenty-five or thirty to five."
The suspension does not affect the rest of the Super Bowl betting action at Sports Interaction. Nor will it affect bets already made, which will be paid out after The Who perform their set, but no bets will be taken after Townsend narrowed down the number of songs.
"It's the first time it's happened in my time in the industry, that we've had to take down a market like this," says Doyle. "But when you consider what those fellas did to hotels in their rock and roll prime, I guess we're getting off lightly."
So while the Halftime song odds are no longer available, a couple hundred other Super Bowl betting options ARE at Sports Interaction.com here.
