NO SUCH THING – "Should athletes be allowed to bet on themselves?" (March 25, 2026)

Episode Overview

In this lively episode, hosts Manny, Noah, and Devin explore the explosive growth of legal sports betting in the United States and its impact on sports, fans, athletes, and society at large. The trio dig into the fundamental question: Should athletes be allowed to bet on themselves? The conversation blends personal anecdotes, cultural critiques, and expert insights—culminating in an illuminating interview with journalist and author Danny Funt, whose book Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling provides historical context and a critical look at industry practices.

1. Ubiquity of Sports Betting in Modern Life

[04:05-06:05] The Inescapable Presence of Sports Betting

• Advertising Overload:

  • Manny, Noah, and Devin note the inescapable prevalence of sports betting ads—on TV, during games, and through celebrity endorsements (e.g., Kevin Hart for DraftKings, Jon Hamm for BetMGM).
  • Devin points out how even Apple’s baseball broadcasts display live betting odds on screen, making gambling an omnipresent part of the sports viewing experience.

• From Taboo to Normal:

  • Where once betting ads felt odd or shocking, now they're the “background noise” of every sports event—a normalization that makes betting almost invisible and routine.
  • Manny: “It ruins the experience of watching the actual game.” [05:51]

2. Legalization and Personal Experiences

[06:07-09:20] Sports Betting Then and Now

• Manny recaps the 2018 Supreme Court decision that paved the way for nationwide legalization, describing the shift from illicit, in-person betting to the ease of placing bets via smartphone apps.

• The hosts share their own experiences:

  • Manny and Noah have both “dabbled,” sometimes betting to enhance boring games.
  • Devin resists, joking about the futility of betting on his beloved, unpredictable Mets: “Nothing in my body wants to bet on sports... I have absolutely no idea what is going to happen day to day.” [08:17]

• Types of Bets Summarized:

  • Money Line: Pick the winner.
  • Over/Under: Bet on total points.
  • Spread: Bet on margin of victory.
  • Parlay: Combining multiple bets for a bigger (but unlikely) payoff.

• The Allure and Dangers of Parlays:

  • Manny criticizes how apps push parlays as “lottery-esque,” calling them “dark and insidious” for hooking people with low-probability, high-payout bets. [10:40-11:28]
  • Noah and Devin highlight the addictive rush and social engineering of sports betting apps (promotional incentives, dopamine hits, endless options).

3. The Dark Side: Fixing and Corruption Scandals

[12:44-16:38] Real-World Consequences for Integrity of Sport

• Hosts discuss mounting scandals where athletes allegedly manipulate games due to betting:

  • NBA: Jontay Porter received a lifetime ban for leaking confidential info and betting-related game manipulation. [13:12]
  • Baseball: Cleveland Guardians pitchers indicted for “throwing specific pitches for balls so bettors could place prop bets and profit.” [14:20-14:35]
  • NBA: Terry Rozier arrested in a broader betting investigation.

• Quote:

  • Manny: “Sports gambling is starting to permeate actual sports. It’s jeopardizing the purity of the game.” [13:57]

• Players Affected by Bets:

  • LeBron James recounts fans begging for specific stats so their bets would cash out—a “funny but dark” tale. [16:17]

4. Should Athletes Be Allowed to Bet on Themselves?

[16:40-21:17] Philosophical and Practical Dilemmas

• The hosts weigh the idea:

  • Could it incentivize better performance if athletes bet on themselves to win?
  • Where’s the line between performance bonuses (common in contracts) and wagering on yourself?

• Concerns:

  • Collusion (“What’s to stop LeBron’s friends from profiting if he intentionally influences outcomes?”).
  • Contractual incentives may already blur lines between legitimate play and profit-driven self-interest.
  • Manny: “Even if we decide it’s okay, it still affects the sanctity of the game.” [20:33]

• Devin Suggests: Any such betting must be fully transparent and limited to “outcome-of-game” bets, not performance micro-bets.

5. Interview with Danny Funt – Author & Sports Gambling Expert

[25:08-49:31] A Deep Dive into the Business and Social Impacts

Danny Funt joins to provide historical, industry, and human perspectives on sports betting’s rise and effects.

A. History of Gambling in U.S. Sports

• Betting is “as old as organized sports”—with 19th-century baseball deeply entwined with gambling (sometimes more than the sports themselves).
• Early scandals (e.g., 1919 Black Sox) catalyzed efforts to “clean up” sports via official bans and oversight.
• The ban on sports betting outside Nevada held from 1992 until the Supreme Court reversal in 2018.

Quote:
“[Baseball] is a contrivance for gambling.” — New York Times editorial, via Danny. [25:51]

B. Bookies, Odds-Setting, and "The Vig"

• Pre-legalization, illegal bookies “ran on the honor system... which is why knees get busted and thumbs get chopped off if you’re not paying.” [29:22]
• Modern odds aren’t set by Vegas “geniuses” but by aggregating global betting activity and responding to professional betters (“sharps”).
• The oddsmaker’s edge ("vig" or “juice”) bakes profit into every bet—bettors need to win >52.5% to break even. [33:40]

C. Industry Tactics and Predatory Practices

• FanDuel and DraftKings marketing research reveals:

  • Most betting is done alone, regardless of ads framing it as a social activity.
  • Most people are embarrassed by how much they bet—or lose.

• Companies exploit fans’ optimism with “micro-bets,” shading payouts to profit from natural fan bias (“your fandom as a vulnerability”). [36:59]

• “No Sweat” promos are misleading: “It couldn’t be further from the truth.” [39:42]

D. Economic & Social Costs

• State revenue is real but frequently “a drop in the bucket”—with New York an outlier due to high taxes.
• Social harms are severe:
  • Domestic violence rates spike after unexpected local sports losses in betting-legal states (University of Oregon study): “Intimate partner violence... can increase by 10%.” [42:38–42:48]
  • Athletes & coaches receive a flood of online and real-world threats. “Inevitably, someone's going to try to kill someone... only a matter of time before there's a gambling-related murder.” [43:47]
  • Bettors themselves often lose more than anticipated—DraftKings: average customer loses >$100/month. [45:06]

E. Policy Failures

• U.S. ignored “hard lessons” from UK & Australia markets, “writing laws with complete oblivion.”
• Danny: “It's undoubtedly a mistake the way they went about it... There’s so much that was ignored that would have informed these laws.” [46:45–48:11]

Notable Quotes

• Danny Funt on micro-betting incentives:
  “They're basically using your fandom as a vulnerability to make more money off of.” [36:59]

• Danny Funt on wider social impacts: “The amount of abuse that athletes are getting from enraged gamblers... is grotesque and relentless.” [42:50–43:47]

• Devin on performance incentives vs. betting: “How is [a performance-based contract] so different than betting? ... Does happen.” [18:58]

6. Final Reflections and Solutions

[52:38-End] How Do We Put the Genie Back in the Bottle?

• The hosts reflect on what they learned:

  • Sports betting is “a way to get people interested” in even riskier forms of gambling—losing a little at a time on a phone app is the “gateway drug” to bigger casino losses.
  • Making betting less accessible (i.e., having to go somewhere in person) would curb compulsive betting.

• Simple solution ideas:

  • Limit bets to outcomes (who wins) rather than a sprawling matrix of micro-performances.
  • De-escalate the culture—but acknowledge "we’re probably too far gone" for fully reversing the trend.

• Bleak anecdote:
  Russell Westbrook’s wife receiving a death threat because of a bad betting loss. “The idea that this is such a big part of your life that you need to go confront the person who has inadvertently lost you money is really bleak.” [55:32]

7. Summary Table of Key Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |---------------------------------------------|--------------------| | Sports betting in everyday life | 04:05–06:05 | | Legalization & personal gambling stories | 06:07–09:20 | | How betting now works (and ensnares) | 09:20–12:44 | | Corruption scandals in sports | 12:44–16:38 | | Should athletes bet on themselves? | 16:40–21:17 | | Danny Funt interview begins | 25:08 | | History, business, and social damage | 25:08–49:31 | | Final takeaways & possible solutions | 52:38–55:56 |

8. Conclusion

Tone: The conversation is sharp, irreverent, and honest—mixing friendship banter with expert analysis.

Big Takeaways:

• Legal sports betting has fundamentally changed American sports—for both better and (way) worse.
• There are no easy answers: even betting “on yourself” or tying incentives to performance blurs the boundaries between healthy competition, personal gain, and systemic risk.
• The U.S. is repeating mistakes of other countries, under-regulating and naively celebrating dubious “freedoms.”
• The hosts and their guest agree: society needs real guardrails, not just empty promises, to handle this new era responsibly.

Most Memorable Quote (Devin):
“The idea that this is such a big part of your life that you need to go confront the person who has inadvertently lost you money is really bleak.” [55:32]

For further reading:
Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling by Danny Funt
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