Every day, millions of sports bets are placed in the United States—on phones, at work, often while games are still unfolding. With the click of a button, gamblers can wager not only on who wins, but on nearly every moment in between.
For most of American history, this kind of gambling was illegal in much of the country, driven by fears it would taint our sports. That changed in 2018, when the Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports betting. Almost immediately, addiction, debt, and harassment surged—as did gambling and game-rigging scandals worth millions.
Why has this happened? And what does it mean for American sports?
That’s the subject of “Everybody Loses,” a new book from journalist Danny Funt. Hitting shelves January 20, it’s one of the first major investigations into the consequences of that 2018 decision. And in the following essay, adapted from the book, Funt confronts a question at the heart of it all: How has legalized gambling corrupted not only the games, but the fans who watch them? —The Editors
The Purdue University men’s basketball team was a favorite to win the 2024 national championship, but hardly anyone was paying attention to their walk-on guard Carson Barrett. After suffering a serious knee injury earlier that season, Barrett had postponed surgery so he could practice with the team, painful as it was, and cheer his teammates from the bench. In their first game of the March Madness tournament, Purdue cruised to victory, and in the closing minutes, both teams emptied their benches.
The ball swung to a wide-open Barrett in the corner with 35 seconds left and Purdue up 75–50. With a brace on his knee, the lefty caught and fired, swishing a 3-pointer for the game’s final basket—just the second shot he’d made that season.
