How Sports Betting Hit the Mainstream in America

This weekend, one of the most watched sporting events of the year, the Super Bowl, will draw an estimated $16 billion in bets from Americans, more than double last year’s total.

The booming trade is a sign of how gambling has gone from illegal to legal very quickly in many states — and hints at the enormous risks posed by the change.

Guest: Kenneth P. Vogel, an investigative correspondent for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Cigars, booze, money: A lobbying blitz helped to make sports betting ubiquitous.
• Government oversight of gambling in the United States offers scant consumer protections and looks to the industry to police itself, The Times found.

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