Book flags betting risks
Columbia Magazine reviewed Danny Funt’s book Everybody Loses and described the rise of legal sports gambling as a rapid expansion of a 'high‑risk vice' with broad consequences for fans and media. (magazine.columbia.edu) The piece frames the book as an examination of how betting’s growth interacts with sports coverage and fan behavior. (magazine.columbia.edu)
A Columbia Magazine review of Danny Funt’s new book says legal sports betting has spread so fast that it is reshaping how Americans watch games and how sports media covers them. (magazine.columbia.edu) Rebecca Shapiro’s April 6 interview describes *Everybody Loses* as Funt’s first book and says he traces the industry’s rise from a 2018 Supreme Court ruling to a market now embedded in broadcasts, apps, and fan culture. (magazine.columbia.edu) (supremecourt.gov) The Supreme Court’s May 14, 2018, decision in *Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association* struck down the federal law that had blocked most states from authorizing sports betting, leaving legalization to the states. (supremecourt.gov) (oyez.org) The American Gaming Association said the commercial gaming industry took in a record $71.9 billion in 2024, with growth driven by mobile sports betting and internet gambling. ESPN reported legal sportsbooks handled nearly $150 billion in bets in 2024 and kept $13.71 billion in revenue. (americangaming.org) (espn.com) Funt told Columbia Magazine that his reporting began with the relationship between gambling, sports, and the media. Kirkus said the book documents how leagues that once treated betting as a threat now sign sportsbook partnerships. (magazine.columbia.edu) (kirkusreviews.com) The NCAA says the spread of legal betting has changed life for players as well as fans. In a January 14, 2025, report on more than 20,000 student-athletes, it said 22% of men’s teams’ athletes and 5% of women’s teams’ athletes reported sports betting in the previous year. (ncaa.org) (ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com) That same NCAA release said 48% of Division I athletes surveyed had received abuse from sports bettors, and one in five of those athletes said the harassment made them enjoy their sport less. (ncaa.org) Recent research has also tied the betting boom to household finances. Reports on a new Federal Reserve Bank of New York study said credit delinquencies among sports bettors rose 10% after legalization and 26% among bettors under 40. (aol.com 1) (aol.com 2) Funt’s argument, as Columbia Magazine presents it, is that the story is no longer just about who wins a wager. It is about a legal business that now reaches into broadcasts, locker rooms, and personal finances at national scale. (magazine.columbia.edu) (americangaming.org)
