NBA ramps up sports betting integrity protections
The NBA will enact new rules which means teams must submit team sheets between 11am and 1pm on game day, and then update them every 15 minutes in the lead-up to matches.
The changes form part of a broader integrity-driven overhaul, with the NBA acknowledging it has been forced to act amid growing concerns about match integrity, betting-related manipulation, and the misuse of inside information.
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According to a memo sent to all teams and published on the internet, the league is reacting directly to recent federal indictments involving a current player, a head coach and a former player in gambling cases. Prosecutors allege that non-public injury and team strategy information was supplied to bettors, undermining the fairness of wagering markets.
Central to the new framework is a significant tightening of injury reporting rules. Teams will now be required to file initial injury reports on game day within the two hour window and then update public listings on NBA.com every 15 minutes, replacing the current hourly system. The goal is to reduce the value of late-breaking inside information that can be exploited by bettors.
The league is also targeting prop betting, which has come under scrutiny for being particularly vulnerable to manipulation. The NBA plans to push for restrictions on wagers tied to individual player statistics, including limits on bet sizes, fewer players being offered, tighter controls on “under” bets, and the removal of markets that can be decided by a single play.
The NBA is also reviewing anti-tanking measures, expanding gambling education programs, increasing protections for players and staff facing harassment from bettors, and enhancing its capacity to investigate unusual betting patterns.
Any changes to sports betting sites offerings will require negotiation with operators such as FanDuel (FanDuel review) and DraftKings (DraftKings review), as well as cooperation from state regulators. The league said the review process remains ongoing, with further input to be sought before the policies are finalised.
