The NBA is tightening restrictions on specific sports betting markets and deploying an artificial intelligence system to identify suspicious wagers ahead of the 2026-2027 season. These moves, detailed in documents obtained by CNBC, reflect Commissioner Adam Silver's push for greater control over gambling data and market types.
In a letter to authorized gambling partners, including FanDuel, DraftKings, and Fanatics, the league outlined new limits on wagers that could raise integrity concerns. The restrictions target bets on 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. The NBA noted that these specific bet types allow a single player to influence the outcome, creating potential integrity risks.
The league is also rolling out an internal AI-based monitoring platform, according to a memo sent to team presidents, general managers, integrity officers, and lawyers. The system analyzes basketball data, injury reports, social media information regarding player availability, and individual betting data. Dan Spillane, the NBA's executive vice president of league governance and policy, stated that the platform is designed to help the league promptly identify and investigate potentially suspicious betting activity.
These measures follow recent gambling-related incidents involving NBA personnel. The cases include former players Jontay Porter, Terry Rozier, and Damon Jones, along with former coach and player Chauncey Billups. Silver emphasized that his concerns extend beyond traditional sports betting to include prediction markets. He told CNBC in Macao that whether a platform is called a prediction market or a sports betting site, the integrity issues remain the same for all leagues.
To support these efforts, the NBA is increasing its training and education initiatives around sports betting. The memo indicated that Charles Tillman, a former NFL player and retired FBI agent, will provide in-person training to each team. Additionally, new training on sports betting will be added for NBA rookies during the NBA Combine and the required Rookie Transition program.
The league is also taking steps to protect players and personnel from harassment by sports bettors. As betting has become more widespread, some individuals have used social media to harass players over game performance tied to bets. In response, the NBA updated its Fan Code of Conduct to explicitly prohibit betting-related harassment. The league is partnering with a third-party service provider to monitor and control harassing messages and has launched a new text message-based hotline for securely reporting threats.
While the memo does not specify how the new restrictions apply to prediction market platforms, Silver expressed support for a national framework for federal regulation of sports betting. He noted that having roughly 40 different jurisdictions regulating the industry makes a consistent national policy in the best interest of the league.