Understood: The Big Bet

technology · EN-CA

Today, billions of dollars are wagered on sports games legally, openly, and often through apps partnered with the leagues themselves. So how did sports gambling go from a taboo relegated to the shadows, to something so pervasive? In this season of Understood, Danny Funt (journalist and the author of Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling) investigates the sports betting boom that has taken place since 2021. We look at how the legalization of sports gambling sparked a fundamental overhaul of the business of sports, the fan experience, and even the games themselves. Over four episodes you will meet the people who built the industry, the executives who saw an opportunity, the leagues that changed their minds, the bettors who became obsessed, and the athletes who are now players in a whole new game. Four episodes, releasing weekly starting Monday, Oct. 5. Understood takes you deep inside the seismic shifts reshaping our world rig