#141: Author Danny Funt on the Swift Rise and Destructive Impact of Legalizing Sports Gambling; Plus, Why Bill Simmons' Role is So Disappointing

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 been in popularizing sports gambling; being a long-time BS Pod listener, Bill was the perfect person for him to focus on. We are both disappointed that, since Bill fancies himself as a truth teller who won't hold back, he's been conspicuously silent on the more nefarious aspects of the rise of sports gambling. Given Bill's love for gambling and particularly same game parlays, plus The Ringer's FanDuel contract, he's clearly benefitted financially by US legalization, which we absolutely think is affecting his content, such as weak takes on major gambling stories like Jontay Porter. We also hear feedback about The Ringer and Bill'srelationship with FanDuel from former employees, and about Bill's (pre re-apex) fall-off by those in the sports media industry.We finish up talking about the negative impacts on young people and how the rise of gambling is likely related to the current state of society, which is encouraging other (also well-marketed) high-risk taking activities such as crypto meme coins and prediction markets.If you enjoyed the episode, follow Danny on Twitter @dannyfunt and check out the book here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Everybody-Loses/Danny-Funt/9781668062029