NBA intervenes with sportsbooks, blocks bets likely to be abused by fixers

• NBA tells partner sportsbooks to comply with a new order about what types of wagers they may offer
• The association has been exploring the idea of influencing prediction markets, but without an agreement with such platforms, this becomes more difficult
• The NBA is also looking to better train insiders about corruption in the sport, as well as strengthen athlete protection from harassment

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is stepping up its efforts in a bid to ensure that it continues to work on protecting the integrity of the sport, following the scandals involving big-ticket league names such as Jontay Porter, Terry Rozier, and others in separate cases.

NBA tells sportsbooks to stop offering certain types of wagers ahead of season

On Friday, October 16, the association sent a memo to partner sportsbooks, the Associated Press reported, informing them that they would no longer be able to offer specific types of wagers, the "low-hanging fruit" for conspirators, as it were.

The NBA can, in fact, restrict specific types of markets through its contractual agreements with major sportsbooks, among which are FanDuel and DraftKings. Specifically, the NBA has restricted under bets for players projected to participate for under 12 minutes in a contest.

This is not the only commitment the NBA is making to strengthen its safeguards, however. The NBA has tapped retired FBI agent and former NFL player Charles Tillman, who will conduct face-to-face training sessions to help raise awareness of league gambling policies and ensure that players and insiders understand the risks of this behavior.

The NBA is also tapping into technology, including AI, to better track potential abuses of insider information and knowledge and identify suspicious betting patterns. The NBA is also keen to secure data from prediction markets and similarly enforce rules on sports event contracts.

NBA looking into potentially bringing prediction markets onboard with restricting contracts

This would be difficult presently, however, as the association is not partnered with any prediction platforms. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has already expressed a similar opinion, speaking to CNBC that the association would benefit from accessing data from prediction markets, helping it potentially flag instances of corruption in the sport.

Ideally, the NBA would like to also limit certain sports event contracts, but once again enforcement would be difficult, as prediction markets would not feel obligated to comply. For their part, FanDuel and DraftKings have confirmed they would be complying with the memo sent on Friday.

The association also similarly passed new guidelines on fan harassment, looking to strengthen player protection against harassment.

Image credit: Unsplash.com