American Idol is among the most bet on television shows and now it may have a counterpart courtesy of Idol judge Simon Cowell.
X Factor is not only the highest rated program in the United Kingdom right now, it has caught on big with gamblers.
Britain's Daily Mirror reported that Cowell is bringing his U.K. reality competition stateside in a deal with FOX worth an alleged $103 million.
"Simon knew how much they needed him for ‘Idol,' but there was no deal until they agreed to do ‘X Factor,'" a source told the newspaper.
"It's been a long hard slog, but we got there," the source added.
The paper reported that Cowell will announce the deal on Oct. 7 at a party for his 50th birthday.
"The deal has virtually been done for the last two weeks, but there are still a couple of loose ends that need to be tied up," another source said.
The competitions, now held in various countries, are contested by aspiring pop singers, and talent-filled aspiring performers drawn from public auditions. The "X Factor" of the title refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality. The prize is usually a recording contract (in addition to the publicity that appearance in the later stages of the show itself generates, not only for the winner but also for other highly ranked contestants).
X Factor 2009 Odds to win outright at BetFred.com:
Stacey Soloman
Danyl Johnson
Lucie Jones
Olly Murs
Jamie Archer
Lloyd Daniels
Joseph McElderry
Rachel Adedeji
Jordan Bach, Gambling911.com
