Governors place Super Bowl bets
Pennsylvania’s Josh Shapiro, Kansas’s Laura Kelly, and Missouri’s Mike Parson all have rooting interests in Sunday’s game.
Three governors with personal stakes in the Super Bowl between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs are placing friendly wagers on Sunday’s showdown — home-grown products, and bragging rights.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R) used this week’s meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington to exchange team flags, the two said on Twitter. The backer of the losing team will have to fly the winner’s flag outside his office sometime next week.
Because the Kansas City metro area spans two states, Shapiro, just three weeks into his term in office, finds himself in double jeopardy. He also wagered a basket of Pennsylvania products with Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly (D), who earlier this year placed the first legal sports bet in her state on the Chiefs to go all the way.
“I’m going to pull together a whole bunch of great items from local small businesses in Southeastern Pennsylvania. Cheesesteaks, soft pretzels, donuts from some of the finest small businesses,” Shapiro pledged in a video posted to Twitter.
“I’m more than happy to take you on,” Kelly replied. She offered local beef and chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, though she said she would celebrate the Chiefs “by feasting on all the Philadelphia goodies you’ll be sending my way.”
The Eagles enter the game as slim favorites over the Chiefs. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:31 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz.