Super Bowl Squares are becoming more and more popular. Whether you are downloading your own printable Super Bowl Squares template to play with your friends or you are entering the massive Rocket Mortage Squares contest, there is a lot of money to be made on Super Bowl Sunday! We here at FlurrySports want you to make all of the money in the world. So, to help you do that, we will discuss the top Super Bowl Squares strategy to make money during the Super Bowl.
Now, this Super Bowl Squares strategy will only work if you get to choose which square you want. If you are playing in a pool that is randomized, then your odds of winning are also random.
Let’s quickly go over what this type of game is, then give our Super Bowl Squares strategy and analytics.
What is Super Bowl Squares?
Super Bowl Squares is a 10×10 grid, with the columns representing one team and the rows representing the other. At the end of each quarter, the last digit of each team’s score determines the square that will be paid out the established amount. Some pools and sportsbooks only take into account the final score when determining Super Bowl Squares winners. We have an article discussing how to play Super Bowl Squares here.
Super Bowl Squares Strategy 2023
If you are participating in a group that lets you pick or bid for the square you want, that’s where our Super Bowl Squares strategy comes in handy.
First, let’s take a look at the scores from the past 15 Super Bowls. I chose this timeframe since 15 is a good number and it also includes relevant games in what I consider to be this era of NFL football. For clarity, the oldest Super Bowl we are looking at is Eli Manning’s Giants defeating the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
The scores from each quarter are ordered by the teams that won first. So 1W is the first quarter from the team that won, then 1L is the first quarter from the team that lost.
Super Bowl Quarter Breakdowns
1W | 1L | 2W | 2L | 3W | 3L | 4W | 4L | |
2008 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 17 | 14 |
2009 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 7 | 20 | 7 | 27 | 23 |
2010 | 0 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 17 | 31 | 17 |
2011 | 14 | 0 | 21 | 10 | 21 | 17 | 31 | 25 |
2012 | 9 | 0 | 9 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 21 | 17 |
2013 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 6 | 28 | 23 | 34 | 31 |
2014 | 8 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 36 | 8 | 43 | 8 |
2015 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 24 | 28 | 24 |
2016 | 10 | 0 | 13 | 7 | 16 | 7 | 24 | 10 |
2017 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 9 | 28 | 34 | 28 |
2018 | 9 | 3 | 22 | 12 | 29 | 26 | 41 | 33 |
2019 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 3 |
2020 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 31 | 20 |
2021 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 6 | 31 | 9 | 31 | 9 |
2022 | 7 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 16 | 20 | 23 | 20 |
Super Bowl Digit Percentages By Quarter
Now, let’s break this down further. The following table displays how often each final digit showed up in each quarter for both the winning and losing teams.
1W | 1L | 2W | 2L | 3W | 3L | 4W | 4L | |
0 | 33.3% | 66.7% | 6.7% | 46.7% | 13.3% | 13.3% | — | 20.0% |
1 | — | — | 20.0% | 6.7% | 13.3% | — | 40.0% | 6.7% |
2 | — | — | 13.3% | 6.7% | — | — | — | — |
3 | 13.3% | 33.3% | 33.3% | — | 13.3% | 13.3% | 20.0% | 20.0% |
4 | 6.7% | — | 6.7% | 6.7% | 6.7% | 6.7% | 20.0% | 13.3% |
5 | — | — | — | — | 6.7% | — | — | 6.7% |
6 | — | — | 6.7% | 13.3% | 26.7% | 6.7% | — | — |
7 | 26.7% | — | 6.7% | 20.0% | — | 40.0% | 13.3% | 13.3% |
8 | 6.7% | — | — | — | 6.7% | 13.3% | 6.7% | 13.3% |
9 | 13.3% | — | 6.7% | — | 13.3% | 6.7% | — | 6.7% |
I know, I’m throwing a lot of numbers at you. Apologies, but more will be coming. To keep things neat and easier to digest, here’s a list of the main takeaways from this data, so you don’t need to do it yourself.
Takeaways
– Zeroes are the way to go in the first quarter. One-third of winning teams and two-thirds of losing teams had a zero as their last digit at the end of the first quarter, whether their score was zero or 10.
– If you were to pick the best digit to have in the first half, it’s zero. However, zeroes are more unlikely in the second half of Super Bowl games.
– The two best digits to have in the second half of the Super Bowl are three and seven.
– The most common digit of the Super Bowl winner is one.
– The Super Bowl winner has had the digit of one or three for five straight years.
– Stay away from any box with a two or five. They are by far the least common digits.
Number Pairing Super Bowl Squares Strategy
Now, knowing the probability each number shows up is extremely useful. However, you must apply this data and also correctly match up two digits.
Let’s discuss which number pairings have been the most common over the past 15 Super Bowls and which quarter that pair occurred.
Digits | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
0-0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | |
3-0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
7-3 | 4 | 1 | ||
3-7 | 2 | 1 | ||
1-6 | 2 | |||
6-7 | 2 | |||
1-7 | 1 | 2 |
As you can see, there haven’t been many repeats over the past 15 Super Bowls. That is why Super Bowl Squares has gained so much popularity, since many view it as truly random outcomes, giving everyone an equal chance to win.
However, we know nothing in life is truly equal and fair.
Which Super Bowl Squares Numbers Should I Pick?
One-third of first quarters over the past 15 years have resulted in the 0-0 box winning. While it won’t give you the larger payday of the final score, if your pool plays by those rules, it gives you the highest chance at a profit. The probability also rises the more recent we get. Half of the past eight Super Bowls have had a 0-0 first quarter. One of the Super Bowls that didn’t have a 0-0 first actually had 0-0 in the second and third quarters.
This means 62.5% of the past eight Super Bowls have had a 0-0 quarter show up at least once. So, make sure you get the 0-0 square.
Now that you have locked down the most likely outcome, we can pair that with a second square that will give you a great chance at the final score. Whichever team you believe will win, get the 1 digit. Three of the past five winners have had a 1 in their final score. We saw above the most common final digit for losers was split between 0, 3 and 7.
For our pick here, we will go 1-7, with the 1 coming from the winner. We will be updating the Super Bowl odds all week long to help you pick which team will win.
Best of luck and make that money!