A DOCUMENTARY BY PEDRO FERIA PINO / VEFILM
ALL IN
The Most American Addiction
40–55 min single doc / scales to 3-part limited series
America's $150-billion-a-year sports betting boom has a body count.
In 2018, a Supreme Court decision put a casino in every American's pocket. Sports betting went from roughly $5 billion a year to $150 billion. The companies that built the apps engineered their products to maximize addiction. VIP hosts called heavy losers at their lowest moments with Champagne and free game tickets. One in five people with a gambling problem will attempt suicide in their lifetime, the highest rate of any addictive disorder. Half of all American men between 18 and 49 now have an active sports betting account. And the people running the country hold personal financial stakes in the outcome.
ALL IN is the story of the new American casino, the young men dying inside it, and the people getting rich off the bleeding.
What This Film Is
Three Threads. One System.
THE ADDICTED
A generation of young men engineered into compulsive gambling. Highest suicide rate of any addiction. Half of all American men 18–49 have an active sports betting account.
THE APPS
FanDuel, DraftKings, Kalshi, Polymarket. Built on data from the leagues themselves. VIP hosts, micro-betting loops, AI-targeted promotions. Dopamine machines disguised as fun.
THE FIX
Trump Jr. advises Kalshi and invests in Polymarket. The NFL owns a sizable stake in the data company powering the bets. The Senate just had to ban itself from the platforms. The casino is the state now.
Cold Open
Andrew Douglas
"In the hospital, where I was hooked up to a bunch of IVs, they turned the NBA Finals on and gave me my phone; I gambled away my last $100."
Andrew Douglas tried to kill himself over gambling debts. He survived. In the hospital, staff turned the NBA Finals on and gave him his phone. He opened FanDuel and gambled away his last $100.
This is the system working as designed.
Go Deeper