NBA Tightens Betting Restrictions, Deploys AI to Flag Suspicious Wagers

In a letter sent to sports betting companies including FanDuel, DraftKings and Fanatics, the league placed restrictions on wagers over which player scores the first basket, wagers on players expected to play fewer than 12 minutes per game, and parlays that combine multiple bets on the same player's underperformance. CNBC reported that such bets can raise integrity concerns because a single player can influence the outcome.

The changes follow a series of gambling-related cases involving NBA figures, including former players Jontay Porter, Terry Rozier and Damon Jones and former coach and player Chauncey Billups.

A separate memo sent Friday to team presidents, general managers, integrity officers and lawyers says the league has developed the AI-based monitoring platform. The system analyzes basketball data, injury reports, social media information about player availability and individual betting data. According to the memo from Dan Spillane, the NBA's executive vice president of league governance and policy, the platform is designed to help the league "promptly identify and investigate potentially suspicious betting activity."

Commissioner Adam Silver has pushed for greater access to wagering data and more control over the types of markets offered on league games. He said his concerns extend to prediction markets. "For us, whether it's called a prediction market, whether it's sports betting, it's the same issues for our league, and I think for all the leagues," Silver told CNBC last week in Macao. "There's issues around integrity first and foremost." He added: "So we want access to that data. We also want control over the markets."

The memo does not specify how the restrictions would apply to prediction market platforms.

The league is also expanding training and education around sports betting. The memo said former NFL player and retired FBI agent Charles Tillman will provide in-person training to each team. The NBA said it has added sports betting training for rookies, who will now receive it at the NBA Combine and during the required Rookie Transition program.

The letter also outlines steps to protect players and personnel from harassment and threats by bettors. As betting has spread, some bettors have used social media to harass players over performances that may be tied to a wager. The league has updated its NBA Fan Code of Conduct to highlight the prohibition on betting-related harassment, is partnering with a third-party service provider to help monitor and control harassing messages, and has launched a text-message-based hotline to report threats securely.

On federal regulation, Silver said in Macao that he favors a national framework for sports betting. "We have roughly 40 different jurisdictions regulating us right now so to have a consistent policy nationally, I think would be in our best interest," he said.