#141: Author Danny Funt on the Swift Rise and Destructive Impact of Legalizing Sports Gambling; Plus, Why Bill Simmons' Role is So Disappointing
About this episode
Danny Funt discusses the rise and impact of legalizing sports gambling in the US and critiques Bill Simmons' role in the conversation.
Welcome to Episode #141! We bring on Danny Funt, author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling, for a highly informative and engaging discussion on the impact of legalizing sports gambling in the US. We start with Danny's motivations for writing the book, including how the main people involved haven't yet had to answer for the negative consequences of how prolific gambling has become. We next dive into mostly unknown but fascinating online sportsbook practices including betting VIPs and hosts (which just gained more prominence with the Bryce Harper FanDuel video), referral fees that are based on a percentage of a bettors' lifetime losses, extremely misleading "risk-free" sign-up bets, and how successful bettors are being limited by the apps. We also discuss the irony of how so many people are losing money gambling, yet the companies themselves aren't very profitable and so many have failed. Plus, Danny notes a key difference between US and international online gambling companies for why the US hasn't been as successful to date. We then get into Bill Simmons. In a chapter called The Media GoAll In , Danny details how powerful sports media has…
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