Episode 206: How the Gambling Industry Swallowed Sports Media Whole

19 snips

Jul 31, 2024

Adam Silver, the NBA Commissioner, discusses the sweeping impact of legalized sports betting on American sports media. He highlights the mass collaboration between major networks and gambling companies, raising ethical concerns about media integrity. The conversation dives into the historical shifts in gambling attitudes, ever-increasing commercialization, and the risks of normalizing betting culture, particularly for youth. Silver emphasizes the importance of critical reflection on the social costs of this gamble, challenging audiences to consider the future of sports journalism.

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Intro

00:00 • 4min

The Gamble in Sports Media

03:44 • 9min

The Evolution of Sports Betting in America: From Scandals to Legalization

12:29 • 2min

The Intertwining of Sports Media and Gambling Industry

14:38 • 6min

Gambling's Grip on Sports Media

20:27 • 23min

The Deterioration of Sports Media Amid Gambling's Rise

43:35 • 2min

The Gamble on Sports: Impact and Implications

45:16 • 14min

The Commodification of Sports Journalism and the Gambling Influence

59:35 • 5min

"Legalize and Regulate Sports Betting," NBA Commissioner Adam Silver wrote in The New York Times in 2014. "NFL Betting Promos & Bonuses | Top NFL Betting Sites & Offers for Week 9 NFL Odds & More," USA Today offered readers in 2023. "Bookmakers break down NBA, NHL playoffs, big bets," reads a June 2024 Fox Sports headline.

It's not an exaggeration to state that, since its legalization in 2018, sports betting and other forms of sports gambling have all but taken over American sports media. Increasingly, over the last six years, leading sources on sports news, including ESPN, Fox Sports, CBS, and NBC, have signed multi-million and billion-dollar agreements with major players in the sports betting industry, and launched suites of gambling-themed verticals, podcasts, and series designed to urge viewers and listeners to keep placing their bets, no matter the social costs.

These media platforms claim to reason that, amid a shifting media landscape where cable channels struggle to adapt to the streaming era and legacy newspapers hemorrhage advertising revenue, partnerships with sports gambling companies help keep them afloat. But what does it mean when sports media are beholden to betting companies? Given the predatory nature of the industry, and the clear conflict of interest of sports media also being gambling pushers, what are the social and political costs to shifting sports from an admittedly already very flawed entertainment business, to a widespread peddler of increasingly unsustainable and gimmicky gambling opportunities? On this episode, we examine how sports media in the U.S. have increasingly embedded themselves in the exploding online sports betting industry. We look at the corrosive effect this has on sports coverage, the glaring conflict of interest this generates, and the moral hazards of a media climate (and state and local governments) that welcomes with open arms a regressive tax pushed by a notoriously rapacious and exploitative industry.

Our guest is, friend of the show, The Nation's Dave Zirin.