Published April 2nd, 2026
BY TULLAH McCOLL
Through years of his career spent investigating and reporting on the consequences of the spread of American sports betting, journalist Danny Funt, a 2010 CHS grad, has released his first book, “Everybody Loses,” published by Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, which educates and entertains readers with the reality of the growing industry in society and sports.
Danny Funt, a 2010 Carmel High School grad, has published his first book after years of covering sports gambling in his journalism career. courtesy of DANNY FUNT
Though his writing career began as editor-in-chief of The Carmel Sandpiper, since earning his graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University, Funt has built a living as a freelance journalist featured in The Washington Post, The New Yorker and The Wall Street Journal.
“I had always wanted to write a book, but figured it would be a lot later in my career,” says Funt, who has been a sports fan his entire life and explains feeling disbelief in the betting industry’s effects on various assets of sports after its legalization in 2018. “Things just sort of lined up perfectly for me where it felt like a timely story, and it felt like the [journalism] work I was doing was just scratching the surface of it.”
One thing Funt was sure of was the length and depth of the story he was taking on, and that researching and finding the correct sources would be crucial in curating a book that accurately represented the industry without allowing a single page to be filled with useless information.
“Writers always worry they’re stretching a magazine story into a book, but with this, I felt I could easily justify 300 pages,” Funt says. “No fat. No sections filled with boring details that’d be hard to get through. I wanted every page to be interesting and have stuff that would shock or surprise people, or start a conversation.”
Funt shares that he always envisioned the process of writing a book to be off in some cabin, pondering over every sentence, but “Everybody Loses” required a different approach.
“The writing had to be rushed because I wanted to make it the definitive book about the spread of sports betting in the country, which is an evolving story that moves almost every day,” says Funt.
Much of the writing and research process relied on Funt’s extensive background in journalism, especially in gaining the trust of key sources for interviews, such as employees of sports betting companies who face pressure not to speak honestly about their positions and companies.
Freelance journalist turned author, Funt’s Everybody Loses delves into the spread of sports gambling after its legalization in 2018 in the United States. courtesy of GALLERY BOOKS
“You earn their trust on such a deeper level when you are communicating for months rather than a week or two,” says Funt, who, before earning his graduate degree, studied government and philosophy at Georgetown University.
With a career in writing, a profession that seems to be a growing target with the rise of artificial intelligence, Funt shares his take on the reality of AI’s ability to do tasks efficiently but less human in terms of the publishing process, like copy editing, creating a cover design or generating an audio version of the text.
“I always feel comforted by the fact that AI can’t go out and talk to people, can’t spend a day with someone and write about that experience or conversation,” explains Funt. “As long as reporters prioritize that, they will be irreplaceable.”
Though years of research may qualify the writer as an expert in sports betting, the author explains that he has no passion for gambling, as it is not something he does for fun, and he looks forward to writing a book about something entirely different.
“I’d love to write my next book as quickly as possible, while I’m obviously still trying to get the word out about this one,” shares Funt, who has been living in North Carolina with his wife since 2024. “I really loved the entire experience of writing the book, and if that could be a central part of my career, I’d be thrilled.”
