The Dark Side of Sports Betting

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The chapter delves into the scandals surrounding players' engagement with sports betting, from a recent controversy involving a Japanese baseball player to historical scandals like the Pete Rose scandal. It exposes the challenges faced due to language barriers and reliance on translators, highlighting issues of illegal betting activities and the societal impact of widespread sports gambling. Furthermore, it discusses the normalization of sports betting, aggressive marketing strategies, and the addictive nature of this industry, cautioning about the potential harm and hidden traps in sports gambling.

Paris Marx is joined by Alex Shephard to discuss the legalization of sports betting in the United States, the growing influence of gambling in professional sports, and its negative impact on the lives of sports fans.

Alex Shephard is a senior editor at The New Republic.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The podcast is made in partnership with The Nation. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Alex wrote about sports gambling for The New Republic.
The Wall Street Journal recent explored the wider backlash to sports betting in light of the Shohei Ohtani scandal.
Last year, the New York Times gutted its unionized sports section to replace it with non-union writers at The Athletic.
Psychologist Meredith K. Ginley explained how sports betting apps hook people on regular gambling.

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