‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ Fans Are Betting on Whether Maroon 5 Will Perform ‘Sweet Victory’ During Super Bowl Halftime

The New England Patriots will face off against the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta for Super Bowl LIII on Sunday, but it isn’t just which team will walk away victorious that fans are betting on. Some fans are betting on “Sweet Victory”, SpongeBob SquarePants style.

According to CBS Sports, a prop bet — short for “proposition bet”, a bet made on elements of a game or event that have no direct impact on the game’s final outcome — for this year’s game is letting those who are interested gamble on whether halftime performers Maroon 5 will perform the fan-favorite song during their set. No, we’re not making this up and yes, the odds are good.

You might be asking yourself what SpongeBob SquarePants has to do with the Super Bowl but believe it or not there are some very interesting connections. For starters, back in 2001, the “Band Geeks” episode of the Nickelodeon animated series featured some of the show’s characters performing the halftime show at the Bubble Bowl — their version of the Super Bowl. The song they brought down the house with? “Sweet Victory”. It’s a favorite reference for SpongeBob fans, but it’s gained wider popularity as of late thanks to rapper Travis Scott. Fans have made a meme out of mashing up the “Band Geeks” episode with Scott’s hit “Sicko Mode” and guess who is joining Maroon 5 on stage during halftime?

That’s right, Travis Scott. The ties get even stronger than that, though. In a video teasing the Super Bowl performance Maroon 5 posted on Twitter a few weeks ago, there’s a brief bit of SpongeBob footage included in what is otherwise a short tease of the musical group getting ready for the huge event. Add on top of that Squidward voice actor Rodger Bumpass has confirmed that he will be recording “a very short piece” for the Super Bowl with Squidward introducing the halftime show.

We also can’t discount the Change.org petition calling for “Sweet Victory” to be performed as a tribute to SpongeBob creator Stephen Hillenburg who died due to ALS last November. That petition has over a million signatures as of the time of this article’s writing and even the Super Bowl venue has contributed to the “evidence” of a SpongeBob element to the halftime show. Back in November, Mercedes-Benz Stadium’s Twitter account shared a GIF of SpongeBob himself dancing while wearing his band outfit.

All of these tidbits together seem to point pretty strongly towards something “Sweet Victory” related and SpongeBob fans are convinced it’s happening. Interestingly enough, the Vegas odds actually agree with them. Bovada currently has the odds of “Sweet Victory” at the Super Bowl as “Yes” at minus-220 and “No” at plus-155.

Fans will find out for sure whether we get a SpongeBob “Sweet Victory” moment during Super Bowl LIII on Sunday on CBS and be sure to let us know if you think it will happen in the comments below.