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

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

Author: Best of the Left: Perspectives on Politics, Culture, and Economics April 1, 2026 Duration: 3:49:54

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 Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com

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

 


For over fifteen years, Best of the Left-Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy has served as a vital, human-curated digest of voices from across the progressive spectrum. Instead of presenting a single opinion, each episode is built around a specific theme-from economic inequality to climate policy to cultural shifts-and weaves together insightful commentary from a diverse array of journalists, activists, and thinkers. This approach allows you to efficiently grasp the nuances of complex issues by hearing multiple expert angles in one sitting, all while discovering new commentators and sources you might not have encountered otherwise. The result is a richly layered analysis that algorithms simply cannot replicate, offering depth and context often missing from the daily news cycle. Since 2006, this award-winning podcast has cut through the noise, drawing from hundreds of independent and established sources to provide a coherent, thoughtful examination of the forces shaping our society and governments. Tuning in means joining a long-running conversation dedicated to understanding and advancing democratic principles, social justice, and a more equitable economy, all through the focused lens of leftist thought.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Podcast Episodes
#1765 AI Capitalism Will Not Deliver an AI Utopia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:58:10
Air Date: 1/17/2026 There's a lot to be concerned about with AI but the biggest concern is the economic system we have in place at the moment when AI is being introduced. Capitalism is not a good steward of new and poten…
#1763 It's Not a Health Care System, it's a Wealth Extraction System [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:47:27
Air Date: 1/9/2026 The Republican Party has been angry about every government service and regulation designed to help average people for at least the past 90 years. And, given any opportunity to hobble or destroy any of…
#1762 Trump's Imperialistic Shakedown of Venezuela [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:16:47
Air Date: 1/3/2026 Imperialism is best thought of as a "Wealth Pump," extracting wealth from one country and depositing it in another. Venezuela has wealth and wealth is the only thing Trump cares about, his willingness…