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He was crucified by gambling industry pundits the likes of Joe Brennan, Jr. and Captain Jack of Unabated a few weeks back. The criticism from regular gamblers via social media was even louder.
McCay Coppins of The Atlantic ruffled a whole lot of feathers with his Atlantic piece entitled "My Year as a Degernate Gambler".
The journalist offers up a long first-person piece detailing how he spent an entire NFL season gambling $10,000 to understand the boom in legalized sports betting in the United States.
To complicate matters, Coppins is a practicing Mormon. He's not really supposed to be gambling. After consulting with his bishop, Coppins went through with the assignment.
Coppins, an Aldo Beckman Award winner for Overall Excellence in White House Coverage and twelve year veteran at The Atlantic, was given that $10,000 by his editors with the goal being to experience the modern sports-betting ecosystem (apps, parlays, props, etc.) firsthand.
"With the door locked behind me, I pulled out my phone and downloaded the DraftKings betting app," he writes. "I felt a certain thrill as I typed in my debit-card information and deposited $500. The first game of the NFL season was a few minutes away. Anything seemed possible."
The experiment went as well as one would have expected. Coppins lost all "his" money and the article headline pretty much speaks volumes.
U.S. gambling industry analyst, writer, advocate and consultant, Joe Brennan, Jr., didn't hold back any punches.
"As the author of @theatlantic piece, it’s time for you to sit back & receive the same kind of criticism that you leveled at sports betting, without hiding behind the “doth protest too much” affectations. Criticism of your piece is every bit as legitimate as your own," he wrote on his Twitter page.
This week, Coppins made things worse - as if that was even possible - by appearing on CBS Mornings, sitting before the backdrop of a casino theme no less.
“It only took a few weeks before I was hiding in the kitchen pantry to put my bets in, so my kids didn’t see how much I was gambling”: @TheAtlantic gave @mckaycoppins $10,000 as part of his investigation into online sports gambling — and he came out with far less money and some… pic.twitter.com/xNWSqTzvgi
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) April 7, 2026
“It only took a few weeks before I was hiding in the kitchen pantry to put my bets in, so my kids didn’t see how much I was gambling”
Coppins claims that more than half of men between 18 and 49 have an active sports betting app uploaded to their phones.
Sports bettors fired back online, calling the setup unrealistic for novices using house money, while Coppins countered that sportsbooks' huge profits show most users lose.
Even operators chimed in to express what they thought of Coppins story.
Never one to hold back, Jeff Benson of Circa Sports had this to offer via this X feed:
"This is such a pathetic representation of the industry. @mckaycoppins doesn’t know the first thing about the space or how it works."
Jeff Donchess, Founder of DRatings, provided his own synopsis of Coppins piece:
"Actual story:
1. Coppins wants to write a gambling hit piece
2. The Atlantic gives him money
3. Loses money in the most absurd ways possible.
4. Writes hit piece for clicks.
5. Goes on tour to gain fame and sell books."
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
