Inauguration Day betting odds: What oddsmakers say about Biden, Lady Gaga and Trump
Just as the Super Bowl provides hundreds of prop bets to entertain viewers, so too does this year’s presidential inauguration.
President-elect Joe Biden’s speech, Lady Gaga’s national anthem and President Donald Trump’s whereabouts are among the bets you can place ahead of the inauguration Wednesday.
Here are some of the best ones:
What words will Biden say during his speech
Courtesy of Covers.com, odds are in favor of Biden mentioning the COVID-19 pandemic during his speech. (Negative odds means bookmakers give Biden a better-than-even chance of saying the phrase. For example, the -300 means they give Biden a 75% chance of saying “pandemic,” while the +300 means they give him only a 25% chance of saying “Kennedy.”)
Pandemic, -300
China, -175
Russia, -110
Founding Fathers, +100
Oval Office, +125
Lincoln, +150
Trump, +150
Scranton, +175
Irish/Ireland, +200
Black Lives Matter, +300
Impeached, +300
Kennedy, +300
“I would love it if Biden said ’malarky’ at +800 and I wouldn’t be surprised if he mentioned Scranton, since he’s given his Pennsylvania hometown almost as much publicity as ‘The Office,’” Covers.com editor Rohit Ponnaiya wrote.
Length, word count of Biden’s speech
The over/under for the duration of Biden’s speech is 17 minutes, 30 seconds, according to SportsBettingDime.com.
By comparison, Trump’s speech in 2017 was under 17 minutes, according to the Washington Post. President Barack Obama’s first inauguration speech in 2009 was about 20 minutes, History.com reported.
Odds courtesy of Covers.com show the expectation that the speech will be neither short nor long.
Under 10 minutes, +3,300
10-15 minutes, +300
15-20 minutes, +150
20-25 minutes, +200
Over 25 minutes, +800
“Biden isn’t the most eloquent of public speakers so we’re not expecting an Obama-length address, but we don’t expect him to be as speedy as Trump, so 15-20 minutes seems like the sweet spot,” Ponnaiya wrote for Covers.com.
The over/under of word count for Biden’s speech is 1,500, according to BetOnline.ag. Five inaugural addresses were 1,100 words or less, including George Washington’s second address of 130 words, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Lady Gaga’s national anthem and hair color
Lady Gaga is the subject of several bets, including the duration of the national anthem she will sing.
The over/under has been placed at 120 seconds, according to BetOnline.ag. At Super Bowl 50 in 2016, Gaga performed the anthem in 129 seconds, according to OddsShark.
She is known to change up her hair style frequently, so bettors can put money on what color it will be Wednesday. Here are those odds, courtesy of SportsBettingDime.com.
White/Blonde, -200
Brown, +375
Blue, +400
Pink, +500
Red, +1,200
“Lady Gaga knows style, but she also carries herself with class. She’s not going to try out some wild hairstyle for the inauguration,” SportsBettingDime writer Robert Duff predicts. “She’s been blonde in all her appearances of late, and she’ll be a blonde when she sings on Wednesday.”
Where will Trump be
The president said earlier this month he will not be at the inauguration, which ended some betting intrigue. The line opened at -400 in early December that Trump would not attend, before growing to -800 before his eventual confirmation, Casino.org reported.
Trump is scheduled to leave the White House on Wednesday morning and travel to his Florida home, according to NBC News.
But what will he be doing after he arrives? A prop bet reported by Covers.com shows odds are -200 he will be golfing and +600 he will be tanning.
This story was originally published January 19, 2021 at 6:41 AM with the headline "Inauguration Day betting odds: What oddsmakers say about Biden, Lady Gaga and Trump."