2020 Election Props & Odds Favor at Least Three Debates

• The 2020 Presidential Election will be held on Tuesday, November 3rd
• There has been recent speculation that the debates might be canceled due to the pandemic
• Will the winner be declared by the end of Nov. 4th or will the nation have to wait?

The 2020 Presidential Election is fast approaching and, after the conventions are finished, the focus will turn to the debates.

There is rampant discussion that the debates could be canceled (for a number of reasons). Sportsbooks have come out with over/under prop bets on how many will take place and a few other topics.

2020 Presidential Election Odds

Odds as of August 24.

Will There Be Three Debates?

There has been all sorts of speculation as to what might happen with the upcoming debate season. Former Vice President Joe Biden is currently in the lead in most major polls and is coming off a strong speech at the Democratic National Convention. If it was up to him, they’d hold the election today and get it over with.

However, the last big hurdle for him will be the debates. With his penchant for gaffes (when he’s not reading off a teleprompter) and poor performance in the primary debates, many in his camp would rather do away with the debates entirely.

The good news for them is they can use COVID-19 as cover. The question is will they go that route and could it backfire? Biden is already not campaigning in public and avoiding press conferences and interviews from unfriendly media. Could he still get the support of the American people by staying out of the spotlight until election day?

In some ways, it feels like 2016 all over again as Hillary Clinton didn’t think she needed to campaign in many states, and then she lost.

While it would be unprecedented to skip the debates, I can see a situation where Biden does one and then opts out of the rest. If he has a passable performance in the first, that could be enough.

Alternatively, his team might just take the PR hit and skip out  altogether. I would take a shot at under three debates at +220.

Will Any Debates Be Held by Teleconference?

This is something that’s going to be floated but I think the technology for this isn’t quite there yet. It would start to get very messy with people talking over each other and moderators struggling to reign people in.

The reality is that if we can have sports in some capacity (NHL, NBA, PGA Tour, MMA, etc.) and people can go back to work, visit Starbucks and go to restaurants, there’s no reason not to hold the debates in person.

I can’t see any debates being held over teleconference.

Will The Winner Of The 2020 Presidential Election Be Announced By End Of Day On November 4th?

This prop is focused on whether or not the race will be determined early in the night or whether things will drag on. Of course, since we’re still using an archaic system of boxes and paper, everything has to be counted by hand. In this modern day, we still don’t have a high-tech option.

At any rate, this will really be up to the battleground states. For the most part, they’re all on the East Coast as places like Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida are almost all in the Eastern Time Zone.

I don’t love this prop overall but I’d actually bet ‘Yes’. I believe we’ll know early. Either President Donald Trump does have the silent supporters and his numbers will exceed expectations in the swing states or the polls are accurate and Biden will roll to a win.