Betting on the Oscars
The Oscar awards need more stats. Enough so the big gambling companies can make a huge amount of money off of the proceedings. In each category, I would like to see how the approximately 10 000 votes went, exactly. Then I could try placing a bet for Demi Moore winning best actress by a 1 000 votes or some such number.
Or you could bet on whether nominees win, place or show in their categories. You could even have an exactor or a triactor, like in horse racing. Of course it wouldn’t pay off as much because there are fewer nominees than horses in a horse race.
I’ve also heard there are ad campaigns for certain nominees to win. This should be made public for the purpose of gambling as well. Then gamblers could say well nominee A hardly campaigned at all whereas nominee B spent a small fortune on advertising. This information may be crucial for their wagering.
Then of course the best picture voting is done differently. It is actually a ranked ballot. That is where you rank the nominees from 1 to 10 from your favourite to your least favourite. First, the least favourite nominee is knocked out of the voting. Then the second least favourite is knocked out. All until one picture has 50% of the vote and is declared the winner.
You could use exactor and triactor betting on this. But, importantly, it would be a way to improve ranked ballot knowledge which is often used in politics. Like the Liberal Party of Canada is using in its vote for a leader to replace Justin Trudeau.
For better breakdowns of the voting, I think it is best for each voter to identify themselves in a category, for which they are most known for. Like actor, director, editor, producer, etc. Then we could break down each win further. Thus we could have the favourite actor’s actor, the favourite director’s actor, or the favourite producer’s editor. You would be able to bet in all categories.
Price Waterhouse Cooper have tabulated the results for many years, with only two people knowing the final result before the announcement. That system would have to change. Can’t Oscar use automated vote tabulators? If it’s good enough for politicians, then it should be good enough for the academy. Then we could do this more complicated numbers system that I would like to see at the Oscars.
Then betting advertisements would dominate the ads on the Oscars show. And perhaps more viewers would be enticed because they, personally, would have something to win or lose in the show. With all that betting and the stars, perhaps Oscars ratings wouldn’t slip any further.
Academy Awards Week 
