All of the attention of Maryland sports betting this weekend will be on Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, as the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs come into town to take on the Baltimore Ravens (CBS, 3 p.m.). The winner advances to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
However, Marylanders also have their interests and eyes on an upcoming event that could be deemed as the “Super Bowl of Hollywood.” Nominations for the 2024 Oscars were announced on Tuesday. The 96th annual Academy Awards features a strong group of “Best Picture” nominations.
BetMaryland.com took a second away from monitoring Maryland betting apps to discern the tastes of state residents for their favorite movie from last year. Utilizing Google Trends, we analyzed the search volume of all the “Best Picture” nominees to find who Illinois residents would pick as their official winner in that category for an Oscar. All movies were analyzed over the last 90 days, based on traffic in the state of Maryland (Oct. to Jan.). And the winners are . . .
Coinciding with much of the nation, the favorite to win Best Picture among Maryland residents is “Oppenheimer,” which tops the list with an interest level of 32. “Oppenheimer” won Golden Globe Awards earlier this month for Best Motion Picture — Drama, Best Director (Christopher Nolan) and Best Original Score (Ludwig Göransson).
“Barbie,” starring Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken finished second with an interest level of 27. Close behind for third was Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon (25), with legendary actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro.
Paul Giamatti stars in “The Holdovers” (16), which was tied for fourth with “Poor Things,” which features Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo and Willem Dafoe.
Jimmy Kimmel will host the show for the fourth time. It will air live on March 10 (ABC, 7 p.m.) from Hollywood's famed Dolby Theatre.
If you are interested in wagering on the Chiefs-Ravens game, make sure to have a Maryland sportsbook promo handy.
Author
Lou Monaco had been East Coast Scene columnist for Gaming Today in Las Vegas since June 2019, covering the East Coast sportsbook scene with emphasis on NJ and PA. He also currently is a part-time writer for the high school sports department for NJ Advanced Media (NJ.com) in Iselin, NJ. Lou has over 30 years sports experience with previous stints at ESPN SportsTicker, Daily Racing Form and Oddschecker.
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