The 97th Academy Awards will be announced on March 2, 2025. The ceremony airs starting at 7 p.m. ET on ABC. The show will be hosted for the first time by longtime TV late night host Conan O'Brien. 

Here is our 2025 Academy Awards betting guide, complete with odds, and predictions for the winners in the top key categories. We will continue to update this guide once full odds and, eventually, the nominees are announced. 

Wagering on the Oscars has been legal in the United States since 2019. Next year, betting sites in New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana, Arizona, Kansas, Colorado, Massachusetts and Louisiana are expected to take wagers on Hollywood’s biggest night of the year. Legal sports betting sites in Ontario are also booking action.

Not all legal sportsbooks are taking wagers on the Academy Awards, even if permitted to do so. 

Voting on the nominations takes place from January 8-12, 2025. Official Oscar nominations will be announced on January 17, 2025. Final voting takes place from February 11-18, 2025.

O'Brien replaces Jimmy Kimmel as the host. Viewership rebounded in 2024. About 19.5 million watched. That was a sizable jump from 18.7 million in 2023. Viewership bottomed in 2021 when just 10.4 million people watched. That was the smallest TV audience in Oscars history (since the first measurement in 1974). The numbers bounced back in 2022 to about 16 million thanks in large part to the Chris Rock-Will Smith slap and the stir it caused on social media.

Betting Odds To Be Offered In 23 Categories

FanDuel, for example, took Academy Awards bets just in New Jersey in 2024, and accepted wagers on just six categories.  BetMGM is approved for Academy Awards wagering in Indiana, Michigan, and Louisiana. DraftKings and Caesars Sportsbook had betting available in all states where it was allowed in 2024, except Colorado.

In 2025, DraftKings and FanDuel are expected to eventually offer markets on all 23 categories.

"We post these early odds on the Oscars because people are interested," DraftKings Director of Race and Sports Johnny Avello told bookies.com. "Many of these films have not yet been released. We'll see lots of changes for sure." 

The success of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" at the box office helped push Oscar betting to a new record in 2024, operators said. "Oppenheimer" had 11 nominations and won 7 awards, including “Best Picture.”

"Barbie" had 8 nominations but took home just one statue for “Best Original Song."

The allowed amount of wagers varies by state.  Avello said most Oscars bets taken by his book range between $5-$500. He wrote his first ticket in Las Vegas in 1984 and invented the Oscars betting market during his days on the OG Strip.

2024 Oscars Odds & Predictions

There are multiple awards given out before the Oscars can be both predictive and drive these markets. Chief among them are the prizes awarded by the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America, the British Film Academy Awards, and the Golden Globes. 

Here is a breakdown of the Oscars odds listed by their best available price, our picks, and the buzz on each of the six major Oscars categories.

Best Picture - Oscars 2024 Odds

(Odds via at DraftKings.) 

Oscars Best Picture Betting Analysis

The Buzz: Last year, “Oppenheimer" opened at +800 before peaking at -5000 after the SAG awards. This year, the field is wide open. Studios are still working on their strategy when it comes to making their own Oscar push. This year, “Gladiator II” appears to have the closest makeup in terms of matching “Oppenheimer” in terms of box office and Oscar success. 

Although we’re not ready to anoint any film just yet. The critical reaction to “G2” might be enough to push to the top of this market or bury it along with the rest of Ancient Rome. 

“The Brutalist,” like “Oppenheimer,” carries with it the push of real-life events driving its interest, and potentially box office and any platitudes. It debuted well at the Venice Film Festival in September. While the film is fictional, it’s based on the real-life story of director Brady Corbet and his mother. Look for Corbet to be atop the “Best Director” list when that market opens.

What About Oscars Betting Surprises?

And even in Academy Awards betting, there are no true locks. There’s always an Anthony Hopkins out there. If he's not going to eat your liver, he might eat your money.

In 2021, the Academy re-designed the show to award the Best Actor statue at the end, predicting a posthumous win for Chadwick Boseman in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” When Anthony Hopkins (+800) won, the show went to credits as soon as the award was presented.

“That was a stunner. The people putting the show together weren't expecting it, because the acting category is never the last thing,” said Dominick Debonis. He led the WynnBET trading team on Oscar betting in 2023. “They set up the Best Actor as the last award, expecting the coordination and getting to honor him and all that. And then, they pretty much just cut to black when Anthony Hopkins was announced.”

“There’s always one category that does this,” added Avello. “This time it was at the end of the show.