The term “March Madness” was coined in 1939 by an Illinois high school official named Henry Porter, but it didn’t relate to the annual NCAA basketball tournament until 1982, when broadcaster Brent Musburger put it in play.

Musburger was referring to the drama that comes with 68 teams competing in the single-elimination event, now underway. But here’s the real madness: Americans will legally wager an estimated $3.3 billion on the men’s and women’s tournaments. According to the American Gaming Association, it’s an increase of 54% in just the past three years.

The bottom line is that, one way or another, “Everybody Loses.”

That’s the title of a new book by my son, Danny Funt, who provides a comprehensive look at how legal sports gambling exploded following the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that allowed states to make it legal. Moreover, Danny details the efforts of betting companies to seduce gamblers, with reckless disregard for the growing number of addicted participants.

He writes: “If sports betting continues down the path it’s been on since 2018, I wonder if watching a game without also wagering on it will, before long, seem quaint or even pointless.”

Subtitled “The Tumultuous Rise of American Sports Gambling,” the book explains how U.S. lawmakers, in their haste to rake in tax money through legalized wagering, failed to learn from the experience of other nations. Many countries, with longer periods of legalization, have had to reel in sports betting and install more guardrails — something that would have been easier to do at the start, rather than after serious problems were identified.

In Colorado, for example, legislation was introduced this month by Democrat Andy Ball to limit what he calls “a culture that normalizes constant gambling.” Among its provisions, the measure would prohibit the use of credit cards for bets and block promotional bonus payments in exchange for placing an online wager.

As Danny’s book points out, sports gambling, unlike other forms of addiction, often develops slowly—perhaps over two or three years. The insidious process can be more harmful than with, say, alcohol. It also means that much of the U.S. is still too early in the legalization era to fully evaluate the damage that out-of-control wagering is causing.

Exactly a year ago, during March Madness, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) reintroduced federal legislation called the SAFE Bet Act, addressing public health aspects of legalized sports gambling. The goal, said Blumenthal, is “to stop the sports betting industry from abhorrently exploiting addiction. We have seen far too many – especially young people – driven into gambling abuse disorder, which is a disease.” The bill remains stalled in committee.

I don’t often use this forum to plug a product. But I think Danny’s book is a worthy exception because of the profound way in which gambling is overwhelming the sports we love.

And that, whether you’re a casual bettor or someone deep into addiction, is maddening.

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Copyright 2026 Peter Funt distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Peter Funt’s latest book is “Inside Fantasy Football.”