Betting On Presidential Debates For The 2020 Election

With the growing momentum of political betting, it is only natural that betting odds and lines have become popular for big events in the political cycle, including Presidential debates. There will be odds and prop bets available for the Democratic Presidential debates, the Republican Presidential debates (if any take place), and the official 2020 Presidential debates.

We intend to cover any and all odds and betting lines that emerge for these debates. And let’s be honest, to get through the heaviness of any political season, prop bets (and SNL skits!) are a lifesaver.

Keep in mind that the Vegas odds on Presidential debates will come and go throughout the debate schedule, so there may not be odds or lines published here each time that you visit.  When no odds or betting lines are available once things get underway – you will see a TBA placeholder.  This means you should check back closer to the next debate when the oddsmakers are more likely to give us some fresh information.

Presidential Debate Odds And Prop Bets

Most of the betting lines for Presidential debates will come in the form of prop bets.  Also called proposition bets, these types of odds and betting lines will cover everything from what candidates will wear to specific phrases they will say.  You’ll see lines for how long they will get to talk, what they will talk about, and certain behaviors they may exhibit.

While prop best are more closely associated with sports events such as the Super Bowl, they have become more mainstream in the political betting arena as well. You can find the current Democratic debate odds further down the page.

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Presidential Debates For The 2020 Election

Presidential debates are typically broken down into individual party debates such as the Democratic Presidential Debates and Republican Presidential Debates. However, the Republicans do not currently have any party debates scheduled at this time.

For the 11th Democratic Debate, the DNC field will be considerably more in focus. The debate is scheduled for March 15, and it will be held in Phoenix, Arizona. By the time that date rolls around, roughly half (47%) of the total number of available delegates will already be pledged, and we will know far more about whether or not the Democrats are headed for a contested convention.

Presidential Debate Details – Next Democratic Debate 2020

When Is The Next Democratic Presidential Debate For 2020?

The next debate will be held on March 15, 2020, in Phoenix, Arizona. The event will be hosted by CNN and Univision, though no more details are available at this time.

Where Will The Next Democratic Debate Be Held?

The next Democratic debate will be held at an as yet undecided location in Phoenix, AZ.

How Do Candidates Qualify For The Next Debate?

To qualify for the prior DNC debate, candidates had to meet specific criteria, including the following:

• Meet the minimum delegate threshold (at least one pledged delegate from IA, NH, or NV), or
• Meet the polling threshold (10% support in at least four national polls or 12% support in two SC polls)

However, it is likely that the rules to participate will be similar to the above, but with polling data coming from relevant primary states. It is unlikely, though, that the field for this debate will have seven participants like the South Carolina event. We expect there to be between 4-6 candidates on the stage in Phoenix.

Which Democratic Presidential Candidates Have Qualified For The Next Debate?

There are a total of eight Democratic Presidential hopefuls that remain in the running for the party nomination, but none of them has technically qualified for the 11th debate just yet, as the debate prerequisites have yet to be released:

• Bernie Sanders
• Joe Biden
• Elizabeth Warren
• Pete Buttigieg
• Amy Klobuchar
• Michael Bloomberg
• Tom Steyer
• Tulsi Gabbard

We don’t expect all of the above candidates to be around for the March 15 debate, with Gabbard and Klobuchar being the favorites to drop out next.

Who Will Be The Moderators For The Next Democratic Presidential Debate?

• TBA

Where Can I Watch The Next Democratic Presidential Debate?

The next Democratic debate will be held on March 15, 2020, and air live on CNN and Univision.  The event is expected to run from 8:00 pm to roughly 10:00 pm EST, in line with previous debates in the cycle (though this could change in the coming weeks).

You can also live stream the next debate on these networks’ various apps and platforms.

Other Democratic Debates in 2020

• March 15 – Phoenix, Arizona (CNN, Univision)
• April – TBA

Recap From The Last Democratic Debate

The 10th Democratic debate was held in Charleston, SC, and it was hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute and broadcast on CBS and BET. The event was moderated by Margaret Brennan, Major Garrett, Gayle King, Norah O’Donnell, and Bill Whitaker.

The candidates to make the cut included seven of the eight politicians still running, with only Tulsi Gabbard excluded, as she failed to meet any of the criteria for inclusion. Their total speaking time on the stage was as follows:

• Bernie Sanders – 15.5 min.
• Michael Bloomberg – 13.6 min.
• Amy Klobuchar – 13.4 min.
• Elizabeth Warren – 12.9 min.
• Joe Biden – 12.6 min.
• Pete Buttigieg – 11.6 min.
• Tom Steyer – 7.1 min. (a la Andrew Yang)

In the mainstream media, the debate was considered one of the weakest of the cycle, with critics complaining that most of the candidates were yelling over one another out of turn and that the debate moderators did a poor job of controlling the flow of the event.

Bernie Sanders was criticized for not disavowing the brutal communist regime in Cuba, while Sanders criticized the moderators for not asking a single question about global warming. Meanwhile, Bloomberg took heat for failing to characterize Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator, and other candidates were criticized for using the old “Russian Collusion” smear on Bernie’s campaign.

Amusingly, in the Bernie pile-on, all the candidates seemed to hallucinate an alternate reality where the openly anti-gun Sanders was somehow in bed with the NRA. Then Joe Biden said that “150 million people have been killed since 2007” in the US as a result of gun violence, which equates to roughly half the population.

For the most part, all the debate did was underscore that most of the folks running for the Democratic ticket are liars and morons. Sanders, naturally, was the beneficiary, as he’s been consistent in his message for about 40 years now, and most pundits say he won the event handily. We agree.

Who Will Host The Democratic Presidential Debates?

The DNC announced there would be a total of 12 debates leading up to 2020: six debates in 2019, and six debates in 2020 (from February through April). The Commission on Presidential Debates has received several requests from venues to host the remaining debates on the calendar, but only the next two have been loosely confirmed:

• 11th Debate: Phoenix, AZ (March 15, CNN/Univision, venue TBA)
• 12th Debate: TBA (April)

Republican Presidential Debates

There are currently two Republican candidates running for the nomination in 2020: incumbent President Donald Trump and former Governor of Massachusetts Bill Weld. Mark Sanford and Joe Walsh ran campaigns earlier in the cycle, but both have dropped out as of February 2020.

Some have speculated that this serves as a warning to Republican contenders and would-be challengers to prevent the President’s polls from sinking. Co-Chair of the RNC’s subcommittee governing the Primary Process, John Hammond, says that “times are different from a lot of perspectives [from when the committee adopted its debate rules. Which will be less relevant] as we continue to support the President and the vice president and the current administration.”

Several Republicans have expressed their desire to take Trump on in a debate, such as Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona and Ohio Governor John Kasich. However, it is not unusual for the incumbent’s party to avoid primary debates in preparation for the re-election campaign.

How Does Someone Win A Presidential Debate?

There is no clear-cut result to debates. Instead, the person who wins a Presidential debate is all about public perception. Sometimes Democratic Presidential debate winners can be “chosen” by the candidates themselves, news commentators, the media, and news outlets which discuss the results of the debate. What individuals or outlets choose to discuss and frame can shape public opinion, and the opinion of voters, which ultimately decides who was the debate winner.

In today’s modern age, many people rely on polls to tell them the winner(s) of events like the Democratic Presidential debates. This is because polls keep track and report what a sample of people believe and think. Usually, whenever a debate concludes, polling companies contact registered voters and ask them what they thought of the debates, which is generally influenced by what others have told them. Through this, polls can be released within hours as voters express their thoughts through snap polls online which provide immediate reporting results. Another way to gauge a Presidential debate winner, of course, is to check out how their betting odds move after the debate in question concludes.

About Presidential Debates

Formally known as the leaders’ debate, a Presidential debate is typically a public debate held during general elections. In a Presidential debate, party candidates express their running policies along with political opinions while opposing candidates attempt to poke holes in or criticize these policies. Presidential debates are usually broadcast live via TV, radio, and online steaming services.

Presidential debates are not required by the US Constitution but are considered popular with voters. These debates often give voters a better understanding of the candidates, their positions, trustworthiness, and competence, and they can help undecided voters align themselves with a specific candidate rather than to a specific party or position.

How Are Presidential Debates Formatted?

Debates can vary in format, but typically opening statements are made by each candidate with a panel of moderators or journalists asking a set of questions. Candidates will typically have a chance to answer these questions either one after another or, if the question is aimed at one specific candidate, then he or she will answer the inquiry. Following each candidate’s answer, the other candidates may have a chance to respond briefly to each candidate’s statement.

Following this, the debate may lead into a free-for-all which the moderators will attempt to control through an allotted time slot and follow-up questions. The conclusion of the debate will be signaled by a final question along with each candidate’s closing remarks.

Debate variations also exist. Some debates allow audience members to ask questions, sometimes a coin toss determines candidate speaking order, and sometimes candidates will stand at podiums while other times they’ll be seated at tables. You can even expect a few jokes and lighthearted non sequiturs to be presented from time to time.

Modern debates have used a kind of “traffic light” to signal when a candidate’s speaking time is nearing the end. Buzzers or flags have also been used in the past to regulate the time frame of a candidate’s answer.

How Do Candidates Qualify for A Debate?

Typically to qualify for a Presidential debate, candidates must receive their party’s nomination pick. However, 2020’s election has seen a large pool of Democratic candidates running, and thus several Democratic debates will be held to pinpoint top-tier candidates for the party’s nomination.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has announced the 2020 debate criteria for candidates to qualify for the remaining debates.  The required criteria include receiving a certain number of individual donor contributions and meeting certain state and national polling thresholds. As of February, the DNC has dropped the donor requirement, presumably to make way for Mini Mike Bloomberg, the billionaire who is self-funding his campaign.

Debate Trivia – Did You Know?