Podcast Summary: Today, Explained – "The bet that's ruining sports"

Date: November 13, 2025
Host: Estee Herndon (Vox)
Guest: Danny Funt, author of "Everybody: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling"

Overview

This episode of Today, Explained explores the explosive rise of legal online sports betting in the United States and the serious consequences now impacting both athletes and fans. Host Estee Herndon and guest Danny Funt dig into headline-making betting scandals, how in-game "prop bets" are reshaping sports fandom, and whether the close alliance between leagues and gambling companies is compromising the integrity and future of sports.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rise in Betting Scandals (02:04 – 04:05)

• The episode opens with recent examples of major betting scandals, including two Cleveland Guardians players indicted for allegedly rigging pitches to benefit coordinated prop bets.
• Quote [03:01] (Court Indictment Narrator):
  "After receiving advance information from the defendant, Emmanuel Classe de la Cruz... bettors won approximately $58,000 on betting platform 2... between 2023 and 2025, the bettors won at least $400,000 from the betting platforms on pitches thrown by the defendant."

In-Game Prop Bets: The Scandal Engine (04:05 – 05:39)

• Scandals are increasingly possible because prop bets let anyone wager on minuscule in-game outcomes, often communicated in real time.
• Danny Funt:
  "Now, more than 90% of bets are placed online legally. A lot of these are smartphone apps, which enables betting during games... thousands of prop bets available for many major sports, every game. Absolutely did not exist just several years ago." [04:49]

2. The Money and Addictiveness of Prop Bets (05:39 – 07:02)

• Americans wager about $150 billion legally each year; 30% is on props/parlay bets, making up most sportsbook revenue.
• Micro-betting encourages frequent, sometimes compulsive behavior.
• Danny Funt:
  "You might bet 30 bucks pregame, but you might bet 10 bucks five or ten times on these micro bets. Suddenly you’ve bet way more... That’s why it’s a phenomenal business for them." [06:19]
• Addiction Concern:
  "The more frenzied and relentless the betting, the easier it is to feed that kind of compulsive instinct." [06:45]

3. Why Risky Betting Appeals Even to Rich Athletes (07:02 – 07:54)

• Contrary to league assumptions, high pay doesn’t prevent athletes from involvement in betting scandals.
• Estee Herndon:
  "Too wealthy to be corrupted. What a phrase." [07:31]
• Danny Funt:
  "Being rich doesn’t immunize you from being greedy or being foolish... this idea that, oh, you make...millions of dollars, you’re not gonna make a bad decision is really falling apart." [07:34]

4. The Fan Experience: From Fandom to Frustration (07:54 – 09:45)

• Sports viewing has been transformed with fan rooting interests shifting from teams to narrow statistical results crucial for their bets.
• In-stadium reactions are often linked to prop bet results instead of team success.
• Estee Herndon:
  "You can be places, and it will often seem as if folks rooting interests are more closely aligned with, will there be a turnover?...than whether a team is even winning or losing?" [07:54]

Increased Harassment & Threats

• Micro-betting has fostered a toxic environment where athletes report death threats over lost bets.
• Estee Herndon:
  "I get people telling me to kill myself every week...it was the other day somebody told me, get cancer and die." [09:45]
• Danny Funt:
  "There have been stories of people being stalked at their team hotel or at their home. So this is something that I think is going to reach a boiling point." [10:07]

5. Efforts to Curb the Chaos (10:17 – 11:43)

• The NCAA is calling for states to ban individual player props, especially for college sports.
• Some states have implemented such bans; MLB has restricted bets on individual pitches to $200.
• Danny Funt:
  "When you hone in on specific players, not only does it open the door for all sorts of manipulation and the temptation for them to gamble, but it heightens...ugly harassment." [10:25]

6. The Deep Roots and Legalization of Sports Gambling (14:10 – 17:54)

• U.S. sports gambling culture is centuries old; the 1919 Black Sox scandal framed gambling as an existential threat.
• The 1992 federal law forbidding sports betting (except in Nevada) was overturned by the Supreme Court in 2018, unleashing a wave of state-level legalization.
• Danny Funt:
  "The floods gates opened, and several dozen states very quickly passed laws legalizing this." [17:19]
• Sports leagues secretly negotiated with gambling firms even while publicly opposing legalization.

7. The Black Market Persists (19:52 – 22:00)

• Despite legalization, black market betting still thrives—especially in states that haven’t legalized—due to anonymity, higher limits, and use of crypto.
• The promise that regulation would kill illegal gambling has not been realized.

8. Is There a Tipping Point? Public Trust and Potential Tragedies (22:00 – 25:21)

• So far, leagues and the public haven’t demanded sweeping change, even amid scandals.
• Potential "wake-up call" events (per an NFL security official):
  • A national crisis in gambling addiction (including suicides)
  • Major championship or superstar fixing scandal
  • An assassination or attack resulting from betting-linked threats
• Danny Funt:
  "If someone was ever assassinated because of that, that could make people say, enough is enough." [23:33]

Growing Distrust in Sports Integrity

• 65% of Americans now believe athletes alter how they play to benefit gamblers—an outcome formerly considered unthinkable.
• Danny Funt:
  "A majority of Americans, that is a massive change... maybe one of the worst outcomes of making gambling so pervasive." [25:08]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Estee Herndon, [07:31]: "Too wealthy to be corrupted. What a phrase."
• Danny Funt, [07:34]: "Being rich doesn’t immunize you from being greedy or being foolish."
• Estee Herndon, [09:45]: "That's why you see so many players fucking getting death threats, right, like in their inboxes because people mad because they didn't hit they prop bets and shit like that..."
• Danny Funt, [23:33]: "If someone was ever assassinated because of that, that could make people say enough is enough."
• Danny Funt, [25:08]: "65% of Americans believe professional athletes alter how they play to help gamblers win money. A majority of Americans, that is a massive change."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:04: Scandal in Major League Baseball: Cleveland Guardians pitchers indicted
• 04:05: Prop bets allow real-time manipulation
• 05:39: Economics and addictiveness of prop bets
• 07:02: Why even multimillionaire athletes gamble
• 09:45: Fans harass and threaten players over lost bets
• 10:17: NCAA, MLB, and state responses
• 14:36: History of sports betting in America
• 17:19: Supreme Court enables state-level legalization
• 19:52: The continuing black market
• 22:43: Potential tipping points and worst-case scenarios
• 25:08: Loss of trust in the integrity of professional sports

Conclusion

This episode lays bare how legalized, real-time sports betting—driven by prop bets—has upended not just sporting integrity but also fan experience and athlete safety. While leagues chase revenue and regulators consider modest reforms, the risks (addiction, scandal, violence, and a loss of faith in competition) loom large. Without decisive action, the "bet that's ruining sports" might truly do just that.