William “Refrigerator” Perry and the Legacy of the Prop Bet
Posted on: February 7, 2026, 09:26h.
Last updated on: February 7, 2026, 09:26h.
- Interview with Eric Hession, President of Caesars Digital
- Caesars is offering 18-to-1 odds on a defensive player scoring an offensive TD in Super Bowl LX
- Super Bowl is the biggest sign-up day for new customers Caesars Sportsbook will see all year
People of a certain vintage will remember the name William “Refrigerator” Perry, the behemothic, 335-pound defensive tackle with the Super Bowl-winning Chicago Bears of the 1980s. Bears coach Mike Ditka used Perry as a fullback sporadically, and the giant would score a touchdown in Super Bowl XX leading Chicago to their 46-10 win over New England Patriots, and became a cultural phenomenon for a period.
Little did people in the betting world know that Perry’s TD would set off a sports betting legacy and a type of wager that’s dominating the industry, right up to Super Bowl LX tomorrow between the Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks.
Growth of Prop Betting
Caesars bookmakers inside Caesars Palace sparked the modern Super Bowl prop betting craze in 1986 with the now-famous 20-to-1 wager on Perry to score a touchdown against the Patriots during that game. The wager captivated media nationally, sliding all the way to 2-to-1, and helped launch the modern prop betting era when Perry scored at the Caesars Superdome.
In a nod to that history, Caesars is offering 18-to-1 odds on a defensive player scoring an offensive touchdown in Super Bowl LX. The last time that happened was when current Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel scored a touchdown in Super Bowl XXXIX against the Philadelphia Eagles. He also did that the year before in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers.
If there’s one bet Eric Hession, President of Caesars Digital, will be making for tomorrow’s game, he said it’s that one.
Prep for the Super Bowl and improvements made to their platform before kickoff has been going on all season long.
Exotic Prop Creations
Super Bowl LIX between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles last year was the most bet-on event in Caesars Sportsbook history, in terms of total bets placed. Super Bowl LIX marked the first Super Bowl in Caesars Sportsbook history in which customers placed more Same Game Parlays than straight wagers on the game. So they’ll be looking to build on that.
Casino.org spoke with Hession leading up to the big game. As he told us, the percentage of in-play wagering has gone up across the industry. Football tends to be on the lower percentage side of that, compared to other sports, he said, but the Super Bowl is higher, because of the hype, people betting little prop bets throughout the game.
So at Caesars Sportsbook there’s a big focus from a data science perspective on speed. If someone is watching the game and making their bet, they have to get that bet through before the game state changes. If the digital sportsbook can calculate the odds faster, then the chance that bet gets through as the game plays out goes up. That’s where the rubber hits the road, and it’s a big focus for Caesars Sportsbook, he added. Super Bowl is the biggest sign-up day for new customers Caesars Sportsbook will see all year.
With the Competition Among Sportsbooks, How’s Prep Going?
“The key thing is to make sure that the app is stable and that we’re ready to handle all the demand that comes in. Unlike a normal sporting event, this event is just multiple times what that is. We’ll be able to take a million and a half queries a minute for pricing on the app with no trouble, those types of big numbers. So priority No. 1 is to make sure your app doesn’t go down … and to make sure the app is super exciting ad geared to what the customers want.
“And that’s our trading team. They’ve spent the whole football season watching new customers trying to figure out what it is that they want, that they’ve been coming up with some really creative and interesting things. And so ultimately, we’re out with around 10,000 different selections that the customers can make on the Super Bowl … from straight bets to extremely exotic prop creations (those bets are typically low, just a few bucks, people doing it just to have more fun watching the game).”
How Do You Differentiate Caesars From Competitors?
“We have some steep competition. There are some really good apps out there, and very good competitors. And so when we can highlight a advantage that we’re able to offer, like the association with our local properties or our Las Vegas properties (contests where customers get a free trip to Caesars Palace in Vegas, for example), that resonates with a subset of the customers.”
What Are Some of the Tech Features That Bettors Can’t Find on Rival Platforms?
“NFL drives a lot of signups. One of the things were came up with that we find to be unique is automated quick picks. So when you go on the app, there’s a series of tiles that have a number of different parlay wagers, and we found that customers find those enjoyable. And so to the extent that we can make them more customized and curated, it resonates even more with the customer. So we’ve done a great job making those available, making them team centric, making them sport centric, and making them pervasive throughout the app.
“Then beyond that, an interesting add-on to that is that if you’re picking a three leg parlay, and you’re getting ready to select it in your bet slip, we’re able to offer you another thing that says, ‘Hey, do you want to add a fourth leg?’ Here’s a popular fourth leg that people that have made your first three legs also chose, and so that gives the customer another option. Do they want to up their potential payback and risk or stay with what they chose.”
An interesting point for operators, that Hession made to us: A lot of recreational bettors on Super Bowl Sunday don’t come back, and don’t bet throughout the year, so operators have to be careful with incentives and sign-up offers during the Super Bowl period. The average long-term value of those customers that you sing up during Super Bowl weekend is pretty low.
“From a marketing standpoint, it’s a much more retail crowd,” he said. “And so what we want to do then is highlight how, after the Super Bowl, we’ve still got the NBA, we still have hockey. We got some great other things coming up.”
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