The Indicator from Planet Money

Is gambling the reason we have pro sports?

9 min · 17. juni 2026
episode Is gambling the reason we have pro sports? cover

Description

To hear author David Bockino tell it, gambling has always been a key ingredient of pro sports in the U.S.—it’s as American as apple pie. Bockino is the author of the new book Over/Under: An Unexpected History of Sports Betting [https://www.davidbockino.com/over-under]. So what gave rise to this new wave of sports gambling? And what are we risking placing so many bets on games?  Fact checking by Sierra Juarez [https://www.npr.org/people/1268825622/sierra-juarez].  Your Next Listen  — Prediction markets are threatening national security. Who’s gonna fix it? [http://lnk.to/pRWjp2]  Connect with The Indicator  — Sign up for The Indicator’s brand new newsletter [https://npr.org/indicatornewsletter]  — Buy the Planet Money book [https://lnk.to/i3AukBdDWE]  — Find our socials, YouTube and more [https://linktr.ee/indicator_npr]!  — For sponsor-free episodes, subscribe to NPR+ [https://plus.npr.org/] See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy [https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy]

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episode Is gambling the reason we have pro sports? artwork

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