A Brief History of the Super Bowl Gatorade Bath

The Gatorade bath is one of those little traditions in football that turned into something huge. It didn’t start on the Super Bowl stage — it began in the mid-1980s when some New York Giants players dumped a cooler of Gatorade on coach Bill Parcells after a regular-season win. Players loved it so much that by the time the Giants won Super Bowl XXI, the ritual had officially made it to the big game.

Over the years, that postgame splash has become something fans watch for as closely as the final score. Once people noticed the colors kept changing from year to year, sportsbooks turned it into one of the most popular novelty bets of the season. Orange — Gatorade’s classic theme color — has historically shown up most often, with blue and clear/water not far behind. Yellow-green has become a reliable middle ground, and purple suddenly gained attention with back-to-back appearances in Super Bowls LVII and LVIII when the Chiefs celebrated with that color. Then at Super Bowl LIX in 2025, when the Eagles won, yellow-green was the pour of choice, rewarding bettors who stuck with one of the more dependable options.

Red or pink is the unicorn of this market — it’s offered by sportsbooks, but it still hasn’t happened at a Super Bowl, which keeps it as a fun long shot. The randomness of the pick — sometimes swayed by team colors, sometimes by whatever cooler is closest — is exactly why this prop remains so entertaining.

This year’s Super Bowl matchup between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots has already generated a lot of betting attention, and the Gatorade color market is no exception. In the game itself, the Seahawks are installed as the favourite, by 4.5 points over the Patriots and around -230 on the moneyline, while New England sits near +190 to win outright at the time of writing. The total currently floats around 46.5 in most markets. 

For the Gatorade bath color prop at Super Bowl LX, early odds show a familiar group of contenders (see below). Orange and purple are usually near the top of the board, with yellow/green/lime close behind — all three appealing because of history and team color ties — while blue is a bit longer, and clear/water and red/pink sit as longer shots. These odds can shift as Super Bowl week unfolds, but entering the market now, purple and yellow/green are often the most talked-about options among bettors. 


At many books, the favorite is currently orange around +215, followed closely by yellow/green/lime at +260 and blue also near +260. Purple sits further down the board at roughly +800, while red/pink is +1100 and clear/water is around +1200. Some books also offer a long-shot “no Gatorade bath” outcome around +5000. 

From its humble roots as a sideline joke to a Super Bowl staple and beloved betting novelty, the Gatorade bath adds a little extra color — quite literally — to the biggest game of the year, and this year’s Seahawks-Patriots matchup promises no less excitement both on the field and on the sidelines.