Some Thrones-related betting contests, like The Ringer’s Thrones Mortality Pool, are just for fun. Thanks to the series’ big built-in audience, large (if shrinking) cast of characters, and uncertain endgame, Game of Thrones and gambling go together like lovestruck Lannister (or Targaryen) twins. As Thrones has ascended to its singular place in the splintered TV firmament, it’s not only come to be covered like the Oscars and the Super Bowl, but it’s started to support a similar secondary market of rumors and wagers. Increasingly, Thrones also lends itself to speculation in the financial sense of the word.
Although the audiences for those once-a-year, network-televised events are larger than the audience for any individual Thrones episode, the show lasts longer and is especially well suited to layered discussion, ranging from off-the-cuff analysis and instantaneous takes to deep dives and obsessive speculation (often all within the same site).
Earlier this week an article at Recode argued that Game of Thrones matters more for the media business than either the Oscars or the Super Bowl.
