The first kickoff of Super Bowl 59 ended with a touchback. If you wagered on the first kickoff to be touchback, then you can take your slip to the counter. Stay tuned for more information on the opening kickoff of next year’s Super Bowl.
There are hundreds of ways to bet on Super Bowl 59 at legal online sportsbooks. While dozens of those betting options are based on the overall outcome of the big game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles, some are settled early in the game. One of these wagers is a bet on the opening kickoff. Bettors have a simple choice: Will there be a touchback on the opening kickoff?
How to bet on the Super Bowl 59 opening kickoff
Here are the latest odds on the wager from DraftKings and FanDuel.
If you think that a touchback is on the way in the game’s opening kickoff, you simply select “yes.” If you think any other outcome will happen, choose “no.” Just seconds after the ball starts sailing through the air, you’ll have an answer. That’s one of the appeals of this bet. Rather than waiting for the entire game to play out, you’ll find out whether your bet has won or lost right away. If you win, funds will quickly arrive in your account.
Eagles vs. Chiefs kickoff touchback results
The opening kickoff of Super Bowl 58 resulted in a touchback. That was the favorite in terms of results, and the result was never really in doubt as the ball sailed out of the end zone prior to the 49ers first possesion.
During the 2024-25 season, the Kansas City Chiefs ranked 14th in touchback rate. Of all the team’s kickoffs, 69% resulted in a touchback. That rate was down significantly from the 84.4% that it was during the 2023 season. Some of that change is likely attributable to changes the NFL made in kickoff rules this season.
The Philadelphia Eagles were in the bottom half of the league for touchbacks, at 65.00% this season. That put the team 18th in the league and made them one of only 14 teams to have a touchback rate below the league average of 65.6%. That mark was lower than the team’s rate of 80% during the 2023 season.
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Super Bowl opening kickoff stats
During the 2024 NFL season, touchbacks were down on a year-over-year basis, likely due to the league’s new dynamic kickoff rule. That said, all but six teams — the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Commanders — had touchback rates of over 50%. Four teams finished the season with touchback rates of 80% or higher.
With the new “dynamic” rule, the kicking team lines up on the receiving team’s 40-yard line and the receiving team lines up in a setup zone between the 30- and 35-yard lines. This has had the intended effect of decreasing the rate of kickoff returns, which the league concluded were more likely to result in injuries and concussions. In the 2023 season, 22% of teams returned kickoffs.
Historically, the Super Bowl’s opening kickoff has not resulted in many touchbacks. While the last two Super Bowls had the opening kickoff result in a touchback, overall that’s happened in only four of the 32 most recent Super Bowls. Of course, that was before this season’s rule change. All four of those opening kickoff touchbacks came in indoor games. Super Bowl 59 will also be indoors, at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans.
Has the opening kickoff ever been returned for a TD at the Super Bowl?
At Super Bowl XLI in 2007, Devin Hester of the Bears took the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown versus the Colts. That was the first and only time that it has happened to date. All told, just 10 kickoffs have been returned for TDs at the Super Bowl. No team has ever attempted an onside kick to begin the Super Bowl.