Stephen A. Smith Presidential Election Odds: ESPN Star Generating Buzz as 2028 Candidate

What started out as a passing possibility could be gradually inching closer to becoming a reality when the time comes, which means we need to continue taking the Stephen A. Smith presidential election odds seriously.

Our political betting sites (outside the U.S.) have been doing that for while, with several offering long-shot odds for the ESPN personality. And more recently, a rather important and influential voice has joined the fray: current sitting president Donald Trump.

Trump supported the bombastic commentator pursuing office during an interview with Smith and others recently. That comes after the New Yorker and The Washington Post dove deep into the chances of him running, and with Smith saying elected officials have been approaching him.

📊 Stephen A. Smith presidential election betting odds

Donald Trump is still early in his second term after just passing the all-important 100-day mark. But the jostling for 2028 is already beginning.

Currently, three of the best sportsbooks in Canada are offering odds on Stephen A. Smith to win the presidency in 2028, with that list including bet365 Ontario, FanDuel Ontario, and Sports Interaction Ontario.

Here are the odds for him from each of those books. Also, a reminder that U.S. residents interested in betting on the election can visit the social sportsbook BetRivers.net, which is available in most U.S. states.

A few quick observations on where Smith stands in the outright winner market for the 2028 presidential eleciton:

• FanDuel's price is a significant outlier next to the other two, and it puts Smith in the company of actual seasoned politicians like Cory Booker, Tom Cotton, and Raphael Warnock
• Smith is even receiving shorter odds than 2024 Democratic candidate Kamala Harris through FanDuel, where she's priced at +6500
• He's getting the identical far-reaching long-shot odds at the other two books, putting him at the bottom of lengthy lists, which means being among fellow celebrity non-politicians like Oprah Winfrey, Joe Rogan, George Clooney, and Mark Zuckerberg
• bet365 casts a wide early net while listing 76 names on its presidential election betting odds, with Smith as one of 10 featured at +10000 alongside previous failed candidates Mitt Romney, Chris Christie, and Michael Bloomberg, and former First Lady Jill Biden
• Smith is also only slightly ahead of Taylor Swift (+12500) at bet365, and Dana White (+20000) is among the few people behind him
• Mark Cuban (+8000) is only marginally ahead of Smith at bet365 as well, with Bill Gates (+15000) just a little behind

🇺🇸 Can Stephen A. Smith become the president in 2028?

The odds from two of our Ontario sports betting sites indicate his chances of replacing Trump barely exist and sit below 1%. FanDuel's odds are far shorter, though the implied probability there still rests at just 1.96%.

But maybe as Smith's interest seemingly grows along with the support from prominent figures, his odds will continue to shorten.

"I’ve been pretty good at picking people and picking candidates, and I will tell you I’d love to see him run," Trump said recently during a NewsNation panel interview, via the New York Post.

That comes after Smith told ABC News' This Week in April that he's receiving significant and widespread pushes to run, including a nudge from his own pastor. Smith says he now has no choice but to at least deeply consider a presidential bid.

"I have no choice because I’ve had elected officials, and I’m not going to give their names, elected officials coming up to me," he said.

"I’ve had folks that got a lot of money, billionaires and others that have talked to me about exploratory committees and things of that nature,” he continued. “I’m not a politician. I’ve never had a desire to be a politician."

As much as the mere thought of Smith's candidacy may have seemed laughable at first to some (very much including Democratic strategist James Carville), we don't need to look far back in history to see a shining example of long-shot success from a similar outsider candidate.

In fact, that candidate was elected twice, including just this past November.

Trump made his now iconic descent down the golden escalator to declare his candidacy on June 15, 2015. Even though he had officially made himself a candidate, unlike Smith, Trump still wasn't taken seriously and his odds were astronomical. What was his price then? He was dealing at +10000 odds, which are identical to Smith's odds at most books, according to ESPN.

Like Smith, Trump had logged no political experience at the time, though he often voiced his stances on hot-button issues.

Smith does the same, but as Jay Caspian Kang of The New Yorker noted, his views are mixed, and he can best be described as being down the middle. The popular host called himself a "fiscal conservative and a social liberal" during a December appearance on "The View," which is the classic definition of a centrist. He would nonetheless be a hypothetical opponent to the next Republican candidate, a title JD Vance is highly favored to earn by the odds.

Previously, Smith had given off mixed messages about his interest in running. He laid out his detest for campaigning while speaking on Radio Row during the buildup to the 2025 Super Bowl, saying that would be the major hurdle.

"The one thing that will always dissuade me from political office is having to campaign," he told Front Office Sports.

"Now, if I could just get interviewed and get into office, that would be different," he continued. "But that campaign stuff would kill me because I am a straight shooter.”

But if somehow he could do little to no campaigning and just ride his popularity to the White House, Smith seemed ready for the call in a later interview with CNBC's Alex Sherman.

"If you tell me that I could catapult to the White House, and I could be in a position to affect millions upon millions of lives, not just in America, but the world over, yeah, that’s something that I would entertain," the "First Take" host said in February.

So the interest is there, as is the support. A February poll put him only narrowly behind former vice presidential candidate Tim Walz and Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro among Democrats.

🤔 Where can I bet on the U.S. presidential election?

Legal and regulated sports betting sites in the U.S. don't offer odds on the election, but our best Ontario sports betting apps do. All major Ontario sportsbooks offer this market under "politics" and/or "novelty".

Odds often surface far in advance, with only the outright winner market available at first. Later on during the election year other prop markets will emerge, such as which party will win, who will win the most electoral college votes, and who will take the popular vote.

🏅United States presidential election previous winners

Odds among the top candidates move frequently right up until voting day in November of an election year.

But bettors should remember that the favorite has won in 26 of the last 31 presidential elections. That includes Trump in 2024, though in 2016 he was a significant underdog to Hillary Clinton, and that night went sideways quickly for the Democrats.

❓Stephen A. Smith presidential election FAQs

Is Stephen A. Smith running for president?

The ESPN star hasn't made a formal statement yet. However, there's been growing indication of interest.

What are Stephen A. Smith's odds to be the next president?

Smith is getting +10000 odds to win the presidency in 2028 from Sports Interaction and bet365, which translates to a 0.99% implied probability. However, his odds at FanDuel are much shorter while sitting at +5000, leading to a probability of 1.96%.

Who is the favorite for the 2028 U.S. election?

Vice president-elect JD Vance is the early favorite for the 2028 election while getting +250 odds. That leads to an implied win probability of 28.57%.

Does DraftKings feature election odds?

Draftkings Ontario re-added election odds late during the 2024 campaign, and it's now one of a few sportsbooks in the province featuring early 2028 odds.

Who won the previous U.S. presidential election?

Donald Trump became the 47th President of the United States after defeating Kamala Harris in the 2024 election. Harris became his opponent after Joe Biden dropped out on June 21, 2024.

When is the 2028 U.S. presidential election?

The next day Americans will go to the polls to vote for a president is Nov. 7, 2028.

When will the candidates for the 2028 U.S. presidential election be decided?

Trump will not be permitted to run again after reaching the end of his second and final term. Both parties will hold primaries, which will begin early in 2028. How long that process will take to decide the likely nominees is difficult to project. But favorites often begin to emerge early in the spring, and especially after Super Tuesday in March.

Where will the U.S. presidential election be decided?

Candidates will campaign for office in several cities and states until November 2028. Ultimately, voters decided who will be the President of the United States at polling booths across the country.

How to watch the U.S. presidential election

Every major news outlet covers the results of the 2028 United States presidential election.

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