Sports betting reshaped newsrooms, and it's "a little gross." Now, here come the prediction markets

"Around this time last year, I was listening to The Athletic's daily NBA podcast. One host recapped the week in professional basketball, ending with the news that player Terry Rozier was under federal investigation as part of a sports betting scandal. "Brutal," his co-host responded. "From that, um, let's go to our, uh, BetMGM line of the week, brought to you by BetMGM.""

"The uneasy transition has been repeated countless times as sports betting and its worst outcomes - threats to athletes, cheating scandals, and gambling addiction - have risen alongside deep, profitable partnerships between news companies and sportsbooks. A new book by journalist Danny Funt, Everybody Loses: The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling, tracks the legalization of sports betting and its infiltration of the mainstream. It's a fascinating investigation into a new force shaping the lives of many Americans - especially young men."

"Funt notes that one argument that led national sports leagues to become more receptive to gambling was the supposed size of the illegal market. NBA commissioner Adam Silver estimated the size of the black market as "nearly $400 billion" in a now-famous op-ed in 2014. The New York Times, ESPN, CNBC, NPR, Bloomberg, and others (including Funt himself) repeatedly published the "round, remarkable number" of $150 billion illegally wagered annually. Funt builds on previous reporting to call the estimates into question. One expert, after Funt shared the methodology, called the much-cited figures "garbage.""

Legalization and commercialization of sports betting have normalized gambling within mainstream sports coverage through lucrative partnerships and sponsorships between sportsbooks and news organizations. Media outlets frequently place betting lines and sponsored segments alongside reporting, creating unsettling juxtapositions when serious issues like investigations, threats to athletes, and cheating scandals arise. Widely cited estimates of the illegal betting market—figures such as $400 billion or $150 billion—face methodological scrutiny and expert criticism. The expansion of legal betting correlates with increased gambling addiction and harms affecting many people, especially young men, and creates ethical pressures for journalists and newsrooms that accept sportsbook deals.

Read at Nieman Lab