NBA orders sportsbooks to drop same-player under parlays

The National Basketball Association has told its licensed sportsbook partners to stop offering a set of bet types it considers vulnerable to manipulation, chief among them parlays that stack multiple under bets on a single player's statistics within one game.

SBC Americas confirmed the directive directly with the league and with DraftKings and FanDuel, after ESPN first reported the contents of a memo sent to operators on Friday.

An NBA spokesperson told SBC Americas that safeguarding the integrity of its competitions remains the league's central concern, and said it is working with operators to tighten limits on markets most exposed to manipulation while also expanding monitoring and anti-harassment protections for players and staff.

Alongside the same-player under parlay ban, the league flagged several other markets as carrying elevated integrity risk: bets on which player scores first in a game, wagers on which team wins the opening tip, propositions on players missing a specific shot, and under bets on players not expected to see more than roughly 12 minutes of floor time.

Those additions sit on top of restrictions the league had already put in place, which limit betting on players under two-way or 10-day contracts and curb markets tied to turnovers, fouls and missed free throws.

The league said the same framework will be applied to WNBA markets from the 2027 season. The NBA's own season tips off on Tuesday.

Because the NBA can dictate permitted markets through its commercial agreements with authorised operators, and because those partners make up the bulk of the licensed US betting market according to ESPN's reporting, the memo effectively sets the terms for how NBA games can be bet on across most of the country.

DraftKings said the new league guidance largely codifies limits the operator had already built into its own offering, with a spokesperson adding that the company backs the NBA's integrity push and that its responsible engagement policy already mirrors the league's position on protecting athletes, coaches and officials from harassment.

FanDuel described the update as the product of ongoing dialogue with its league partners, with a spokesperson saying the operator remains focused on running a regulated market that pushes back against those trying to exploit it or undermine fair competition.

NBA Executive Vice President Scott Kaufman-Ross told ESPN the league was careful not to go so far that bettors simply migrate to unregulated platforms, describing the changes as an attempt to strike a balance between cutting out risky bet types and keeping activity inside the legal market.

Separately, the league sent teams a note on broader integrity measures, including in-person training on betting rules to be led by former NFL player and retired FBI agent Charles Tillman.

The league also said it has expanded its AI-driven system for flagging unusual betting patterns, updated its fan conduct code to address harassment linked to betting, partnered with a firm called Social Protect to remove abusive messages aimed at players online, and set up a text hotline for reporting threats.

The changes follow a year in which federal prosecutors charged Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups, Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier and former NBA player Damon Jones in cases alleging leaked inside information and poker games rigged with the backing of organised crime figures.

Same-player under parlays featured directly in the cases against both Rozier and former player Jontay Porter, who admitted in court to deliberately leaving games early while on a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors during the 2023-24 season in order to benefit bettors.

Prosecutors said a bettor placed an $80,000 parlay on under bets across Porter's statistics for a March 2024 game against the Sacramento Kings, a wager that would have paid out roughly $1.1 million; Porter exited the game after three minutes and was banned from the league by Commissioner Adam Silver later that year.

Prosecutors allege a similar approach had been used against Rozier a year earlier, when bettors loaded up on under bets tied to his performance in a March 2023 Charlotte Hornets game against the New Orleans Pelicans, a contest he left after roughly nine minutes.

A May indictment went further, adding charges against Rozier for sports bribery and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, with prosecutors alleging he agreed to accept a $100,000 bribe. Rozier has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled for February 2027.

Kaufman-Ross told ESPN that the Porter and Rozier cases were a direct factor in the league's decision to ban same-player under parlays, saying the league looks to past problem areas to help identify which bet types pose the greatest risk.