2026 National Spelling Bee Odds, Prop Bets, and Betting Picks

Can You Bet on the Spelling Bee?

The best entertainment betting sites offer betting odds on the Spelling Bee each year, including the following markets:

• • What state/region the winner will be from?
  • Age of the winner

There should be more betting markets closer to the competition, such as the length of the winning word, and even if the winner will have braces or glasses.

Many sportsbooks allow you to bet on the Spelling Bee, but BetOnline has the most prop bets and competitive odds, which is why we recommend them for the spelling competition. The 98th National Spelling Bee will take place on May 26, through to May 28, 2026, at DAR Constitutional Hall in Washington, D.C.

What State Will the Winner be From?

• • Texas (+150)
  • Calfornia (+300)
  • Florida (+500)
  • New York (+550)
  • Pennsylvania (+800)
  • Not from the USA (+1100)
  • Georgia (+1200)
  • Illinois (+1600)
  • Ohio (+1600)
  • North Carolina (+2000)
  • Michigan (+2000)

Of the last five winners, two have been from Texas, including then-13-year-old Faizan Zaki of Allen, Texas. Two have been from Florida, and the other was from Louisiana. During the eight-person tie in 2019, three of those were from Texas. The Lone Star State has nine winners since 2000.

After hours of suspense, there was finally an éclaircissement when it became clear Faizan Zaki would be the Champion of the Bee’s historic centennial year!@MerriamWebster, the official dictionary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. #wordoftheweek #spellingbee #thebeeturns100 pic.twitter.com/PbFAf9sRgv

— Scripps National Spelling Bee (@ScrippsBee) June 4, 2025

Here’s a breakdown of the number of Spelling Bee winners from each state since 2000.

The 2014, 2015, and 2016 Spelling Bees all had two winners. In 2019, the 92nd Scripps National Spelling Bee had eight co-winners.

It makes sense that Texas and California are the two favorites as the most populous state. I’m going with the return of California with Spelling Bee odds of +300, based on the assumption that they have the most, or second-most, entrants in the competition. California hasn’t had a Spelling Bee winner since one of the eight in 2019, so I’ll take those odds.

Age of the Winner

• • 11 or 12 (+140)
  • 13 or 14 (-200)

Since 2015, seven of the last ten winners were either 13 or 14 years old. Even in the 2019 competition, most of the eight winners were 13 or 14. Nihar Janga was the youngest winner ever at 11 years old in 2016, while there have been two 12-year-old winners in that time period.

I think the Spelling Bee betting market for Age of Winner should be much higher for 13 or 14, maybe -300 or -350, so I’ll take that bet at -200.