“Succession” has earned acclaim for its depiction of the fictional lives of the mega-rich, power-hungry and venal Roy siblings (Connor, Kendall, Shiv and Roman) as they vie for control of Waystar Royco. Almost every component of the TV series has found a second life elsewhere in culture, inspiring a Twitter account with more than 255,000 followers that posts out-of-context scenes from the show, weekly commentary about the cast members’ fashion and even a remix by the rapper Pusha T of the series’ catchy theme song.
It is this kind of fandom that has culminated in a “mini-version of a Super Bowl” for the show’s finale, said Ms. Meng, who is in the running for a $1,000 jackpot. “I might spend it on a trip to Tuscany.” (The location of the drama-filled Season 3 wedding of Caroline Collingwood, Shiv, Kendall and Roman’s mother, on the show.)
Jayson Buford, who placed a $20 bet with nine of his friends at his “Succession” watch parties, said betting was “a fun activity to do to supplement the idea of the show, which is very communal. It’s a show about a family, people have watch parties, people gather, and it plays within that.” Mr. Buford believes that Waystar Royco is going to dissolve and that nobody will take over the company. Logan “thinks Kendall is an addict, and he doesn’t think Shiv is smart,” he said.
Some “Succession” viewers are placing noncash bets to bond with their co-workers. “It’s a team-building exercise,” said Colm Phelan, 30, a digital public relations manager in Dublin. “Everybody was watching ‘Succession,’ and we thought it’d be fun to start an in-house gambling game for the team.”
About 25 participants place pretend $10 bets every Monday, Mr. Phelan said. Contestants can change their guesses based on the outcome of the latest episode each week, but by the end of the series, only the person who correctly chooses the successor the most number of times will be named the winner. The prize? “T.B.D.,” he said. “It wouldn’t be a cash prize; it would be a gift voucher.”
