‘American Idol’ Season 16 Finals Week 1 Betting Odds

–This is the 16th season for the long running reality show.

–’American Idol’ was on Fox for the first 15 seasons, this is the show’s first season on ABC.

–’American Idol’ Season 16 Finals Week 1 airs on Sunday, April 22 at 8:00 PM Eastern. Results will be announced on Monday, April 23 at 8 PM.

Do I really need to explain what ‘American Idol’ is or outline the rules? Probably not. The show first aired in 2002 and became a surprise hit. The next year it became a ratings juggernaut and would have the highest rated show on TV for seven consecutive seasons. Like every other broadcast TV show in the digital era, the viewership has dropped off precipitously in recent years. In 2005 through 2007 it was pulling in an average of 30 million viewers plus per week. It its final year on Fox it brought in an average in the low to mid 11 million range. The current season is the first on ABC and ‘American Idol’ has been averaging in low to mid 7 million viewer range.

It’s just a different world now than the one in which ‘American Idol’ premiered 16 years ago. Without considering the context it seems shocking that they’ve lost 23 million viewers per week in under a decade. The new reality, however, is that ‘American Idol’ will likely be on ABC as long as the producers continue to do the show. Any show that can aggregate multiple millions of viewers per week can write its own ticket on broadcast TV and so far this season ‘American Idol’ has ranked #14 or higher in the weekly ratings. For the most part, that’s two episodes a week giving ABC a solid audience on Sunday and Monday nights.

‘American Idol’ has stayed pretty much true to what it’s always been throughout its run. It’s harmless, family safe viewing. The Season 16 judges are Katy Perry, Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie and the Cal Ripkin of reality TV aka Ryan Seacrest continues to preside over the program. The biggest ‘controversy’ this season has been two Katy Perry ‘wardrobe malfunctions’ but if you’re thinking there was any bare ass on TV you don’t know this show. Both times, Perry’s backside was tastefully covered with the ‘American Idol’ logo. The multiple Katy Perry exposures did give me an excuse to come up with a few prop bets dealing with the fracas.

The most difficult thing about handicapping ‘American Idol’ this season is trying to get a handle on how to number the shows. Technically this *isn’t* Season 16 of ‘American Idol’ but Season 1 of the ‘Idol’ revival on ABC. That notwithstanding, I’m going to refer to it as ‘Season 16’. The next dillima is how to refer to the episodes numerically–this writeup technically covers Episodes 13 and 14 but since we’re just picking it up with the Final 14 we’ll go with ‘Finals Week 1’. We’ll continue to update every week until a Season 16 winner is crowned.

Here are the odds to win ‘American Idol’ Season 16 along with some Finals Week 1 props:

AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 16 BETTING ODDS

TO WIN AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 16

Ada Fox: +350
Gabby Barrett: +500
Jurnee: +600
Mara Justine: +750
Marcio Donaldson: +750
Cade Foehner: +1250
Catie Turner: +1250
Michael J. Woodward: +1500
Caleb Lee Hutchinson: +1500
Johnny Brenns: +1500
Maddie Poppe: +2500
Dennis Lorenzo: +2500
Michelle Sussett: +2500
Garrett Jacobs: +2500

WILL JUDGE KATY PERRY EXPERIENCE A WARDROBE MALFUNCTION’ BETWEEN THE START OF THE APRIL 22 EPISODE AND THE END OF THE SEASON?

Yes: +210
No: -250

Perry must experience a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ that is mentioned on air between the beginning of the April 22 ‘American Idol’ broadcast and the end of the season.

WILL ABC RENEW ‘AMERICAN IDOL’ FOR THE 2018-2019 TV SEASON?

Yes: -250
No: +210

AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 16 FINALS WEEK 1 BETTING ODDS

AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 16 TO MAKE TOP 10

Will Gabby Barrett make the Top 10?

Yes: -750
No: +600

Will Johnny Brenns make the Top 10?

Yes: -150
No: +130

Will Marcio Donaldson make the Top 10?

Yes: -350
No: +300

Will Cade Foehner make the Top 10?

Yes: -350
No: +300

Will Caleb Lee Hutchinson make the Top 10?

Yes: -250
No: +210

Will Garrett Jacobs make the Top 10?

Yes: -150
No: +130

Will Jurnee make the Top 10?

Yes: -750
No: +600

Will Mara Justine make the Top 10?

Yes: -350
No: +300

Will Dennis Lorenzo make the Top 10?

Yes: -120
No: +100

Will Maddie Poppe make the Top 10?

Yes: -750
No: +600

Will Michelle Sussett make the Top 10?

Yes: -250
No: +210

Will Catie Turner make the Top 10?

Yes: -750
No: +600

Will Ada Vox make the Top 10?

Yes: -750
No: +600

Will Michael J. Woodward make the Top 10?

Yes: -150
No: +130

AMERICAN IDOL SEASON 16 FINALS WEEK 1 PROPOSITION ODDS

WILL JUDGE KATY PERRY EXPERIENCE A ‘WARDROBE MALFUNCTION’ IN FINALS WEEK 1?

Yes: +450
No: -600

WILL JUDGE LUKE BRYAN EXPERIENCE A ‘WARDROBE MALFUNCTION’ IN FINALS WEEK 1?

Yes: +2500
No: -5000

WILL JUDGE LIONEL RICHIE EXPERIENCE A ‘WARDROBE MALFUNCTION’ IN FINALS WEEK 1?

Yes: +2500
No: -5000

Judge must experience a ‘wardrobe malfunction’ that is mentioned on air during the April 22 or April 23 ‘American Idol’ broadcast

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 22 EPISODE KEY DEMO (18-49) RATINGS

Over 1.5: +130
1.5 or lower: -150

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 22 EPISODE KEY DEMO (18-49) SHARE

6 or higher: +110
Under 6: -130

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 22 EPISODE TOTAL VIEWERS

Over 7.5 million: +120
Under 7.5 million: -140

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 22 EPISODE NIELSEN RANKING (4/16/18 through 4/22/18)

Over 12.5: -125
Under 12.5: +105

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 23 EPISODE KEY DEMO (18-49) RATINGS

Over 1.5: +110
Under 1.5: -130

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 23 EPISODE KEY DEMO (18-49) SHARE

6: -210
Not 6: +180

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 23 EPISODE TOTAL VIEWERS

Over 7.5 million: +150
Under 7.5 million: -170

FINALS WEEK 1 APRIL 23 EPISODE NIELSEN RANKING (4/23/18 through 4/30/18)

Over 12.5: -125
Under 12.5: +105

About the Author: Jim Murphy

For more than 25 years, Jim Murphy has written extensively on sports betting as well as handicapping theory and practice. Jim Murphy has been quoted in media from the Wall Street Journal to REASON Magazine. Murphy worked as a radio and podcasting host broadcasting to an international audience that depended on his expertise and advice. Murphy is an odds making consultant for sports and 'non-sport novelty bets' focused on the entertainment business, politics, technology, financial markets and more.