The Minnesota Orchestra Introduces “The Conductor’s BetOn” Betting App
The Minnesota Orchestra today announced the launch of The Conductor’s BetOn, the world’s first legal classical music betting app, giving Orchestra fans the opportunity to win prize money by successfully predicting an array of Minnesota Orchestra performance elements such as tempos, fermata durations, musician fashion choices and how many encores a soloist will play.
“We’re excited to be on the cutting edge of technology and audience engagement with The Conductor’s BetOn, which will give our music-loving audiences a more interactive concert experience than ever before,” said Sarah Hicks, principal conductor of the Live at Orchestra Hall series. “Now while you hear an Orchestra concert, you can follow along on your phone as every element of the performance becomes part of the ‘game,’ from the brand of mallets used by [Principal Timpani] Erich Rieppel to the color of [First Associate Concertmaster] Susie Park’s hair.”
The app’s current featured bets include an over/under of 2.5 standing ovations at this Friday’s concert featuring Behzod Abduraimov performing Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto, 4-1 odds that a contemporary piece on the April 25 Future Classics concert will call for violinists to use col legno technique, 15-1 odds that a guest conductor or soloist will withdraw from their scheduled appearance during the month of May, 500-1 odds that the Orchestra’s next recording project will be a cycle of Antonio Salieri’s symphonies, and a “Golden BetOn” prize of $50,000 for any bettors who successfully guess the theme of the 2026 Symphony Ball.
Future versions of The Conductor’s BetOn, which is now accessible in a limited beta test format, are slated to include a “fantasy orchestra” element through which users can select Orchestra musicians for a roster of virtual string quartets and other chamber ensembles, then compete with other app users while an advanced AI system calculates points based on the results of the week’s full-Orchestra concerts—including the total number of notes a musician plays precisely in tune, adherence to the printed music’s breath marks and bowings, and an overall “vibrato score” calibrated for the time period in which the music was composed.
Although the development of The Conductor’s BetOn has been a closely guarded secret, the project has involved the combined efforts of more than a dozen staff members from the IT, marketing and digital initiatives departments working together over the past three years, as well as an intensive lobbying effort at the Minnesota Legislature to legalize music betting in a little-noticed amendment to the 2025-26 state budget. An upcoming intermission segment on the This Is Minnesota Orchestra livestream and broadcast series will give viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the app’s creation, as well as a QR code link to $5 of free BetOn Bucks for each new account created by May 1, 2025—one month from today.
