At 28-years-old, Eugenie Bouchard is already a Wimbledon Grand Slam finalist – the first Canadian at that – and has reached the semi-finals of the French and Australian Open. She’s achieved a lot in her career, even climbing as high as fifth in the rankings, but in 2017, she made a grave mistake: Bouchard bet against Tom Brady.
It was Super LI, and prior to the game, Bouchard backed the Falcons to come out on top. At half-time, Atlanta was dominating, up 21-3. So, the tennis star was more than happy to agree to a bet from a fan on Twitter when the Falcons increased the lead to 25 points.
Then, Brady put his foot down, powered the New England Patriots to level-pegging by full-time, and then cinched the historic triumph in overtime. Being a woman of her word, Bouchard accepted the loss on the bet and went on a date with a fan. Now, Fox 2000 has purchased the film rights, with Bouchard as executive producer.
Given the current climate in the US regarding betting, a fun story like this would seemingly fit right in, perhaps even being able to lend some commentary to the massive popularity of the activity now. Then again, it certainly wouldn’t be the first film about betting to come out of Hollywood.
Sports betting is a big deal in the US now
— Genie Bouchard (@geniebouchard) February 6, 2017
In the middle of 2018, a year after Bouchard lost her Super Bowl bet, states were suddenly permitted to allow sports betting online and on land if they wanted to regulate the industry. Many piled onto the opportunity, with sports teams and major entertainment companies teaming up to further propel the industry in the new US market.
The Betway review by BonusFinder indicates, for example, that this one sports betting platform is already live in Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, with many more on the way. Importantly, the betting scene in the US is already popular enough to force heated competition between platforms, resulting in the reviewed sportsbook needing to offer a $1,000 risk-free bet to newcomers.
What this means is that the American public is becoming very familiar with betting, and that’s becoming a popular activity. Almost a part of the sports pop culture in some states now, a movie about a high-stakes bet like Bouchard’s is bound to find an audience if marketed well.
A fairly common theme in Hollywood
Sports betting may have only just become a widespread activity in modern America, but Hollywood has been making movies about betting for decades – and not just on casino games. One of the finest, most recent examples is Uncut Gems. The five-star rating from Empire says it all, with a key part of the story being the protagonist betting on NBA star Kevin Garnett.
Not quite as recently, we’ve also seen Al Pacino and Matthew McConaughey methodically bet on pro sports handicaps in Two for the Money, James Caan bet on basketball in The Gambler, and professional betting from Bruce Willis and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Lay the Favorite. There are many more, and plenty of movies with betting scenes in theme, like Focus, because the audience continues to be entertained by the all-or-nothing mentality displayed by many of the most iconic protagonists in these films.
So, it’s fair to say that even big names at the top of their game are susceptible to getting it wrong on occasion. The only difference between celebrity bettors like Bouchard and the Average Joe is that Bouchard’s lost Super Bowl bet might just be the inspiration for a future Hollywood blockbuster.
