Have you ever considered that the sports you are watching are fixed? This episode ois appointment listening for Sports fans, sports gamblers and concerned parents, and an eye-opening story for anyone interested in how pervasive organized crime has woven into our society.
My guest this week is Declan Hill, Oxford-educated and author of The Fix. Declan is world-renowned as an investigative journalist who has infiltrated organized crime fixing rings to understand how the world of sports fixing actually works and why the extensive marketing efforts to encourage more people to gamble on sports have added more fuel to the fire.
Sports thrive on uncertainty. The drama, the underdog, the last-second miracle, the feeling that nobody knows what comes next. But what happens when that uncertainty gets hijacked — when outcomes are fixed not just in final scores, but in moments you barely notice?
In this interview, we dig into match-fixing and spot-fixing, prop bets and micro-bets, and why Declan believes a major American sports league is heading toward an existential crisis within five years.
We also talk about how that ‘casino in your pocket’ is affecting athletes, fans, and young people’s psychology. What happens when you move from playing with fun Money to your house money, or worse, when gambling becomes an addiction equal to tobacco, alcohol or heroin?
Sports fans, sports gamblers, concerned parents and friends and true crime followers, Declan Hill will not disappoint.
Declan Hill is an investigative academic and journalist. He specializes in the study of organized crime and international issues. He was the first journalist to break the story of Asian match-fixing gangs linked to the multi-billion dollar gambling markets destroying international football in his book ‘The Fix: Soccer & Organized Crime’. It has now become a best-seller in 21 languages. In 2013, he published the academic version ‘The Insider’s Guide to Match-Fixing’ which is now available in English and Japanese.: https://www.declanhill.com
If you are concerned about sports gambling, Declan encourages you to visit: https://www.gamblingwithlives.org
