While this year’s Super Bowl matchup had the requisite elaborate half time show (courtesy of The Weeknd) and memorable commercials, it did have something slightly unexpected, in the form of a (fully clothed) streaker. Boca Raton man Yuri Andrade took the field during the fourth quarter, where it was already evident that the Tom Brady-led Tampa Buccaneers would take the Lombardi trophy over the Kansas City Chiefs, running across the field in a hot pink bathing suit emblazoned with the logo of an adult website.
Radio commentator Kevin Harlan gave a hilarious play-by-play of the event, which had people talking. Even Tampa Bay’s Rob Gronkowski chimed in about the incident, joking with James Corden on The Late, Late Show. He quipped, "He actually scored. The Chiefs didn't. He scored. They should definitely sign him!"
After the game, Andrade hit a Tampa gentleman’s club, bypassed security and jumped on the main stage, showing off his moves on the pole. Andrade certainly reveled in his 15 minutes of fame…perhaps a bit too much, as he blabbed to anyone who would listen that he took out a prop bet, allegedly plunking down $50K on a bet that there would be a streaker at the big game, a bet could clear him almost $375K. Andrade explained the whole thing during an interview with Tampa radio station WILD 94.1, stating that the gambling website Bovada offered +750 odds ($100 bet pays $750), so he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Unfortunately, once he broadcast his plan to the world, people took notice. A Vegas insider took to Twitter, proclaiming that,” Per a global-market sportsbook spokesperson: ‘No book in their right mind would take $50K limits on that. Nowhere close.’" He added, "If there was one, I'd have been right there next to him in a pink tutu."
Another Twitter source, Todd Fuhrman of the "Bet the Board" podcast, tweeted about the wager, saying the story was fabricated. He quoted a TMZ Sports story that said Andrade sent someone to Las Vegas to make the wager. The fib comes in because placing bets on off-field events isn't allowed at Vegas sportsbooks.
As a result, a rep for the betting site Bovada told TMZ Sports on Wednesday that they launched an investigation into Andrade’s claims and, "did identify some betting irregularities on our Super Bowl prop ‘Will a fan run onto the field during the game?'" Due to their findings, Bovada said it will refund all losing bets on the streaker wager -- along with "all those 'YES' wagers we’ve determined to have had no part in the betting irregularities." With this statement, Bovada implied that they will nullify all of the wagers connected to the stunt, adding, "We’ll be reaching out to all those players impacted by this event shortly."
