- This is the 39th season for CBS’s reality show.
- ‘Survivor’ was one of the early pioneers of the reality TV genre.
- ‘Survivor: Island of the Idols’ Episode 1 airs September 25 at 8:00 PM Eastern.
There was a time when every US facing offshore sportsbook offered odds on Survivor. That’s no longer the case partially due to changes in the bookmaking industry and the declining popularity of reality TV (and broadcast TV in general). I’ve always enjoyed handicapping reality TV and other entertainment props so it’s been one of my goals to ‘pick up the slack’ and cover the betting aspects of reality TV shows.
Survivor is heading into Season 39 and the forthcoming incarnation–Survivor: Island of Idols–will premiere on Wednesday, September 25. The way we do Survivor odds is to start with the basic stuff and then add in more esoteric propositions once the audience starts to gain a familiarity cast. We also post odds on the TV ratings which are still fairly strong for Survivor and the other top reality TV shows.
Not surprisingly, the ‘preseason’ odds to win Survivor–or for that matter most reality shows–present the biggest challenge from a bookmaking standpoint. The way I do it is to dig through all of the promotional information, fan and spoiler sites, and otherwise get all of the information I can on the contestants. To some extent, I try to compare the new group of contestants to previous years and there’s also a significant component that is just experience, ‘feel’, and intuition. The odds will change rapidly during the first few weeks but historically I’ve done a decent job with my ‘preseason’ oddsmaking–at least in terms in getting some of the contestant hierarchies correct.
Here is the first rundown of the official SPORTSINSIDER.COM Survivor: Island of Idols betting odds. We’ll keep these updated on a weekly basis and begin our recap and analysis of the episodes beginning after Episode 1 airs on September 25:
‘SURVIVOR: ISLAND OF THE IDOLS’ BETTING ODDS
TO WIN ‘SURVIVOR: ISLAND OF THE IDOLS’
Tom Laidlaw +550
Dean Kowalski +750
Chelsea Walker +750
Elizabeth Beisel +900
Vince Moua +900
Kellee Kim +900
Ronnie Bardah +1250
Jason Linden +1250
Jack Nichting +2000
Molly Byman +2000
Tommy Sheehan +2000
Dan Spilo +2000
Karishma Patel Sandesara +3500
Jamal Shipman +3500
Aaron Meredeth +3500
Elaine Stott +3500
Lauren-Ashley Beck +3500
Tra'Mese 'Missy' Byrd +3500
Janet Carbin +3500
Noura Salman +3500
‘SURVIVOR: ISLAND OF THE IDOLS’ EPISODE 1 BETTING ODDS
EPISODE 1 KEY DEMO (18-49) RATINGS
Over 1.55 -150
Under 1.55 +130
EPISODE 1 KEY DEMO (18-49) SHARE
Over 6.5 -250
Under 6.5 +210
EPISODE 1 TOTAL VIEWERSHIP
Over 7.25 Million -180
Under 7.25 Million +150
The previous three TV ratings propositions will be graded using data reported at TV By The Numbers.
