‘Nomadland’ Favorite for Oscars Best Picture, But Only Three States Permit Bets

Nomadland tells the story of a widow in Nevada who looks for new work after the gypsum planet in Empire, Nevada where she was employed closes. She decides to become houseless and travel the country.

While Nomadland is the odds-on favorite to win Best Picture at this Sunday s 93rd Academy Awards, movie fanatics in Nevada wishing to bet on the category s outcome must travel elsewhere to place a legal wager.

Legal sports betting is operational in 21 states, plus DC. But come Sunday, only bettors in New Jersey, Michigan, and Indiana can legally place a wager on the outcome of the .

The vast majority of the states that have legalized sports betting since the Supreme Court struck out the federal ban in 2018 have largely followed Nevada s lead in its regulation of gambling activity. Gaming regulators that govern Las Vegas gaming industry have long refused to allow oddsmakers to engage in novelty betting or non-sports.

New Jersey became the first to permit its licensed sportsbooks to take Oscars action in 2019. Indiana joined last year, and Michigan in 2021.

Sportsbook operators in the three states that are permitting lines on the Academy Awards are doing so with conditions.

For example, DraftKings which is live in New Jersey, Michigan, and Indiana is limiting bets on each of the 23 Oscars categories to a maximum win of $1,000.

For Nomadland, which is -670, bettors can risk up to $6,700. At -670, a $6,700 bet is needed to win $1,000.

Conversely, The Father, which has the longest Best Picture odds of the 10 films nominated, is at +10000. At those odds, a bettor can only risk up to $10. If The Father wins, the $10 bet would net $1,000.

Nomadland has swept the early awards season so far, winning top honors at the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild of America, Golden Globes, and BAFTAs.

Nomadland has won nearly every major award this season. By all accounts, this Frances McDormand road drama should be able to steamroll its way to the Oscars for best picture, said Kyle Buchanan, pop culture reporter at The New York Times.

But a word of caution to those considering wagering $6,700 to win $1,000: 1917 and La La Land also both awards but didn t take home the Oscar.

The late Chadwick Boseman is the heavy Best Actor favorite for his role in Ma Rainey s Black Bottom. Boseman died last August at the age of 43 from colon cancer, a diagnosis he largely kept from the public. Boseman is at -1667 to win Best Actor posthumously, which implies a chance of almost 95 percent.

The Best Actress category is closer, at least according to the odds. Carey Mulligan for Promising Young Woman is the betting favorite at +125 an implied chance of 44.4 percent.

Chloe Zhao is seemingly a sure thing for Best Director. The Nomadland director is at -3335 implied odds of 97 percent.