Major — major, major, major, major, major — spoilers ahead for Succession, so if you don’t want to be spoiled, run away. Go. F*** off, will ya?
All clear? Good. Here we go.
Cash those “Logan Roy will die” -125 tickets, because the old warhorse has left this mortal coil. Yep, the patriarch is dead, and sharp-eyed watchers of this space would’ve cleaned up, as Logan was the favorite to die in the preseason article I wrote summing up the odds for all sorts of things to happen on Succession.
Of course, equally eagle-eyed watchers of this space may also note there are no legal markets on which to bet on Succession, or any other television show. So, yeah, our little article was just for fun.
The same cannot be said for articles about gambling on Succession that appear in The New York Times.
You remember The New York Times, the “Old Gray Lady,” the paper that eviscerated the lobbying industry and the politicians it serves — wait, checking notes, nope, the paper that eviscerated the sports betting industry by pointing out how lobbyists and politicians make the sausage — published a feature last week about people betting on Succession.
“Succession” fans are placing bets on who will succeed the media mogul Logan Roy in the show’s fourth and final season — with rewards reaching as much as $1,000. https://t.co/aMtbuPa7D9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 9, 2023
So, yes, the paper railed against the legal sports betting industry and then celebrated people making unregulated wagers on the outcome of a television show. (If it sounds like I’m a little sour grape-y, it’s because I am.)
‘Succession’ successor supposition
While The New York Times’ article was written before the death of Logan, many of the bets detailed concerned who would be his successor.
“I’m betting on Kendall, but with devastating effects on his personal life,” Sophia Meng, a 24-year-old illustrator who lives in Brooklyn, was quoted in the article. “A hero’s journey, ending back home, but the home is different. Like, you got everything you wanted, but you’re still nothing.”
Well, Ms. Meng and your illustrations, you could’ve had Kendall at +500 at our fictional sportsbook before the season started; I’m now putting him at +200, closing in on Lukas Mattson, who remains at +125.
“Ms. Meng is one of several Succession viewers hoping to find out, and cash in on, who will be the next heir of the show’s media empire, with rewards reaching as much as $1,000,” writes the article’s author, Wilson Wong. “No longer limited to sports, betting has become part of the viewing experience for both popular television shows like The Bachelor and fictional dramas. (While wagering on television shows on some websites can run afoul of gambling laws, casual social betting among friends is legal in most states, said I. Nelson Rose, a gambling lawyer and expert.)”
Well that’s nice. Gambling among friends is legal in most states. You know what else is legal in most states? Online sports betting. So, per the transitive property, I fully expect 50,000 words from the NYT about the dangers of betting casually with friends. (There’s them sour grapes again. I’ll stop.)
More bets!
Anyway, with seven episodes to go, figured I may as well drop three more markets for Succession, in case anyone else in Brooklyn wants to lay down a wager or two …
I’m going to say the odds are -150 the dead waiter somehow comes back to bite Kendall. Marcia and Logan were still married at the time of his death, and she — along with her son and Logan’s bestie Colin — are the only people (outside of Shiv and Roman) who know about the waiter’s death. It’s a massive trump card.
How about that Connor Roy? He may have himself a happy ending after all, and based on the midseason trailer, he may be playing spoiler in the presidential election. So with all that in mind, I put it at +175 that Connor gets more out of this than just being “in the conversation” and gets promised a seat at the table in D.C. with Jeryd Mencken in exchange for dropping out of the race.
This is more wishful thinking than anything else, but I’ll put it at +700 we get at least a half-hour detour of something-something with Frank and Karl. Just the two of ’em, getting into some kind of wacky adventure. We all want this. Such a small ask.
Photo: Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images
