During a recent break from reading Danny Funt’s Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling, the author counted 17 advertisements for FanDuel, DraftKings, and other legal sportsbooks across social media and television. The ubiquity of these ads, less than a decade after the Supreme Court’s 2018 decision in Murphy v. NCAA that opened the door to widespread sports betting, underscores a dramatic shift in the American sporting landscape.
Funt’s book details the rapid expansion of sports gambling and its attendant consequences, including a surge in addiction, particularly among young men, and a decline in public trust in the integrity of sports. The core argument of Everybody Loses, as Funt poses it, is a simple cost-benefit analysis: “What can we gain and what are we willing to lose?” His conclusion is stark – the benefits accrue to a minor number of betting companies, while the costs are borne by individuals, the sports themselves, and society at large.
The book features the story of Matt, an elementary school teacher who turned to daily fantasy sports and then sports betting during the COVID-19 pandemic. He quickly amassed over $100,000 in debt, drawing on his wife’s income and funds gifted by family. Matt’s experience, Funt notes, is not unique. He interviewed numerous individuals, predominantly men, whose gambling addictions were fueled and exploited by the dominant sports betting applications.
The rise of legal sports betting has also introduced novel pressures within the sports world itself. Athletes now face a barrage of abuse, including racist and sexist insults and even death threats, from bettors frustrated by game outcomes that impact their wagers. Concerns about the integrity of competitions have also grown, with a series of betting-related scandals emerging across major sports. Jontay Porter, a former NBA player, was banned for life after intentionally underperforming in games due to gambling debts, a case highlighted by Funt and reported by the Associated Press.
Funt’s investigation extends beyond the individual level, examining the role of media companies in the proliferation of sports betting. He argues that many outlets, facing financial challenges, have embraced gambling advertising and sponsorships as a crucial revenue stream, creating what he describes as a Faustian bargain. Bill Simmons, founder of The Ringer and a prominent sports commentator, is singled out for routinely promoting betting without disclosing potential conflicts of interest, and for downplaying the significance of betting-related scandals. Simmons referred to Porter as an “idiot” while minimizing the broader implications of the scandal, according to Funt.
The book also profiles individuals who profit from sports betting, such as Isaac Rose-Berman, a young man who earns a living by identifying subtle advantages in various sports. While Rose-Berman expresses concerns about the societal impact of his work and the personal toll it takes, he remains unable to abandon it. Funt notes that even successful gamblers often struggle to operate within the confines of legal betting platforms, frequently being limited or banned by bookmakers and forced to rely on intermediaries.
Funt argues that the promise of simple money offered by sports betting is a recurring theme in American history, but one that often masks a predatory system. He suggests that the industry’s rhetoric of “responsible gambling” is disingenuous, as it fails to acknowledge the devastating consequences experienced by many. The book highlights a pattern where the financial benefits of sports betting are concentrated in the hands of a few, while the costs are widely distributed.
The author concludes that sports are losing their intrinsic value, transforming into merely another avenue for financial speculation. The focus shifts from the enjoyment of the game to the pursuit of profit, leading to atomization and a diminished sense of community. The Washington Post review of the book notes that the exchange is clear: people, sports, and society are harmed by legal gambling, which only benefits a handful of betting houses.
