Funt’s writing about sports gambling’s 'winners' is almost as depressing as the look at its losers ... The only winners are a handful of sports books that are making billions ... Legal sports gambling promised easy money. Everybody Loses makes clear that it comes with enormous costs.
Mr. Funt, a journalist, keeps a reporterly distance throughout most of the book. It’s only in the final pages that he opines about what gambling is costing society ... Sports betting has indeed been brought out of the underground and into the sunlight. It’s quickly becoming the default way we relate to athletic competition. And the outcome is predetermined.
Funt masterfully chronicles the meteoric rise in gambling and societal acceptance of a predatory business in a book that will simultaneously inform and alarm readers.
Funt has written a fascinatingly thorough history of the rapid rise of gambling in the United States and its consequences and probable future impact, which, as the book’s title indicates, is overwhelmingly negative.
For decades, Funt writes in this insightful work of journalism, sports executives agreed that betting was 'evil' and would undermine competitive integrity if made broadly legal. But in recent years, pro leagues have done a 180, inking lucrative partnerships with companies that offer round-the-clock betting ... Funt’s book isn’t overtly prescriptive, but he offers a helpful summary of proposed legislation to rein in some of the industry’s excesses. This is an intelligent overview of an increasingly powerful economic and social force. Energetic reporting exposes the underbelly of an industry that always wins, no matter who’s playing.
