What will Biden say first? Oddsmakers post State of the Union prop bets
President Joe Biden will deliver his first State of the Union address Tuesday night, and oddsmakers have made props on what he will say first in his speech, his approval rating and who will be the “designated survivor,” among others.
Betting on politics isn’t permitted at U.S. sports books. But offshore book BetOnline has posted a plethora of props on the State of the Union address.
The over-under total for the length of the speech is 65 minutes. The over-under for total viewers, according to Nielsen on Wednesday, is 35 million, and the over-under for Biden’s approval rating, according to FiveThirtyEight.com on Sunday, is 41 percent.
Here are some of the props on what Biden will say first:
— Russia (+160) or Ukraine (-200);
— Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (+200) or Russian President Vladimir Putin (-300);
— NATO (-150) or nuclear (+110);
— Coronavirus (+200) or pandemic (-300);
— CDC (-140) or mask (+100);
— Economy (-500) or inflation (+300);
Betting favorites are expressed with a minus sign, and underdogs are expressed with a plus sign. In the case of Russia (+160) or Ukraine (-200), a bettor would have to wager $200 to win $100 on Biden to say Ukraine first or $100 to win $160 on him to say Russia first.
BetOnline also has posted odds on the first to be mentioned, with Speaker of the House a -400 favorite, followed by members of Congress (8-1), fellow Americans (9-1), vice president (10-1), first lady (16-1) and Senate Majority Leader (16-1).
Biden will deliver the address in front of a joint session of Congress, but one designated survivor in the presidential line of succession won’t be attending. The designated survivor is the person who is chosen to be moved to a secure location in case of a catastrophic event.
Merrick Garland and Tom Vilsack are the 7-1 co-favorites to be the designated survivor, followed by Alejandro Mayorkas, Avril Haines, Gina Raimondo and Lloyd Austin at 10-1, and Cecilia Rouse, Denis McDonough and Marty Walsh at 12-1.
Offshore book SportsBetting.ag also has posted odds on State of the Union “Word Bingo” (Biden to say word at any time): Democracy is -700; Build Back Better and infrastructure are each -400; Jill is -250; Allies and universal pre-K are each -225; Georgia is -200; Pennsylvania is -180; Estonia, Michigan, Scranton, Wisconsin and virus are each -130; and Baltic, Finland and Florida are each -110.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
