<description>&lt;p class="p1"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Air Date: 3–31-2026&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p2"&gt;Today we examine how money and power have captured American sports from every angle — gambling platforms operating as unregulated casinos, private equity turning franchises into financial assets, leagues suppressing player pay while selling access to politicians, and a sports media apparatus too compromised to report any of it. It's almost all the problems with America on display in one industry.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;Be part of the show! Leave a &lt;a href= "https://podline.fm/best-of-the-left"&gt;&lt;span class="s1"&gt;voice message&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, message us on Signal at the handle &lt;a href= "https://signal.me/#eu/62GSpPKEljyYCb0TuYTEUm3D6Nv8G0xSV_GVP8Q13TkQxVeP04lJ8pGOUEqUdHdn"&gt; &lt;span class="s1"&gt;bestoftheleft.01&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;, or email &lt;a href= "mailto:Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com"&gt;&lt;span class= "s1"&gt;Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.bestoftheleft.com/1781"&gt;Full Show Notes&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Check out our new show, SOLVED! on &lt;a href= "https://www.youtube.com/@BestOfTheLeft"&gt;YouTube&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.bestoftheleft.com/support" target= "_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;BestOfTheLeft.com/Support&lt;/a&gt; (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!)&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;a href="https://discord.gg/dhyZE3WMJn" target="_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Join our Discord community&lt;/a&gt;!&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;hr /&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;TOP TAKES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;KP 1: &lt;a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAW4LwlttrA"&gt;Trump's Record $239M Inauguration &amp; the Sports Owners Who Funded It | Spolitics - Jemele Hill - Air Date 4-30-25&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;KP 2: &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iKoH6LceBo"&gt;We Investigated The Shady Business Behind The UFC - More Perfect Union and Luke Thomas - Air Date 3-6-26&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;KP 3: &lt;a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHr_4hrKH8U"&gt;World Cup CHAOS As Trump And FIFA Abuse Iran - The Ring of Fire - Air Date 3-21-26&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;KP 4: &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFGzXNILrV4"&gt;ESPN &amp; the Death of Journalism - Drew Gooden - Air Date 3-3-26&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;KP 5: &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymcowZgvDS8"&gt;This WNBA CBA Deal Is Bigger Than Basketball… - The Women's Hoops Show - Air Date 3-24-26&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;KP 6: &lt;a href= "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyuJBELxmkg"&gt;Senator Chris Murphy CRACKS DOWN on Prediction Markets | PTFO - PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT - Air Date 3-26-26&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;hr /&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(00:46:46) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Sports Expose Everything Wrong With America — And Fans Have More Power Than They Think&lt;/p&gt; &lt;hr /&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;DEEPER DIVES&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(00:58:11) SECTION A: SPORTS ARE POLITICS &amp; CULTURE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(01:58:11) SECTION B: GAMBLING ON EVERYTHING IS BAD IDEA&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(02:30:27) SECTION C: THE WOKE NBA, NOT THAT WOKE&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;(03:08:12) SECTION D: THE BILLIONAIRES ARE ALWAYS THE PROBLEM&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;hr /&gt; &lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;SHOW IMAGE CREDITS&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;Description: Composite image of the silhouette of a business man in a suit holding up an upside-down golden umbrella full of sports balls in a celebratory way as money rains down behind him.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt;Credit: Internal design. Component images from &lt;a href= "https://pixabay.com/service/license-summary/"&gt;Pixabay&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Produced by Jay! Tomlinson&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Visit us at &lt;a href= "http://www.BestOfTheLeft.com"&gt;BestOfTheLeft.com&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Listen Anywhere! &lt;a href= "https://www.bestoftheleft.com/listen"&gt;BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen&lt;/a&gt; Listen Anywhere!&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Follow BotL: &lt;a href= "https://bsky.app/profile/bestoftheleft.bsky.social"&gt;Bluesky&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href="https://mastodon.social/@bestoftheleft"&gt;Mastodon&lt;/a&gt; | &lt;a href= "https://www.threads.net/@bestoftheleft"&gt;Threads&lt;/a&gt; &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Like at &lt;a href="https://www.facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft" target= "_blank" rel="noopener"&gt;Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p class="p1"&gt; &lt;/p&gt;</description>

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Best of the Left: Perspectives on Politics, Culture, and Economics

#1781 Your Team Is a Hedge Fund Now: How Gambling and Billionaires Captured American Sports

APR 1, 2026229 MIN
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

#1781 Your Team Is a Hedge Fund Now: How Gambling and Billionaires Captured American Sports

APR 1, 2026229 MIN

Description

Air Date: 3–31-2026 Today we examine how money and power have captured American sports from every angle — gambling platforms operating as unregulated casinos, private equity turning franchises into financial assets, leagues suppressing player pay while selling access to politicians, and a sports media apparatus too compromised to report any of it. It's almost all the problems with America on display in one industry. Be part of the show! Leave a voice message, message us on Signal at the handle bestoftheleft.01, or email [email protected] Full Show Notes Check out our new show, SOLVED! on YouTube! BestOfTheLeft.com/Support (Members Get Bonus Shows + No Ads!) Join our Discord community! TOP TAKES KP 1: Trump's Record $239M Inauguration & the Sports Owners Who Funded It | Spolitics - Jemele Hill - Air Date 4-30-25 KP 2: We Investigated The Shady Business Behind The UFC - More Perfect Union and Luke Thomas - Air Date 3-6-26 KP 3: World Cup CHAOS As Trump And FIFA Abuse Iran - The Ring of Fire - Air Date 3-21-26 KP 4: ESPN & the Death of Journalism - Drew Gooden - Air Date 3-3-26 KP 5: This WNBA CBA Deal Is Bigger Than Basketball… - The Women's Hoops Show - Air Date 3-24-26 KP 6: Senator Chris Murphy CRACKS DOWN on Prediction Markets | PTFO - PABLO TORRE FINDS OUT - Air Date 3-26-26 (00:46:46) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR Sports Expose Everything Wrong With America — And Fans Have More Power Than They Think DEEPER DIVES (00:58:11) SECTION A: SPORTS ARE POLITICS & CULTURE (01:58:11) SECTION B: GAMBLING ON EVERYTHING IS BAD IDEA (02:30:27) SECTION C: THE WOKE NBA, NOT THAT WOKE (03:08:12) SECTION D: THE BILLIONAIRES ARE ALWAYS THE PROBLEM SHOW IMAGE CREDITS Description: Composite image of the silhouette of a business man in a suit holding up an upside-down golden umbrella full of sports balls in a celebratory way as money rains down behind him. Credit: Internal design. Component images from Pixabay Produced by Jay! Tomlinson Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com Listen Anywhere! BestOfTheLeft.com/Listen Listen Anywhere! Follow BotL: Bluesky | Mastodon | Threads Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft