The NBA has announced comprehensive new betting restrictions for the upcoming season, prohibiting specific player prop parlays and low-likelihood wagers that featured prominently in recent match-fixing scandals.
Addressing integrity risks through targeted market bans
Distributed to sportsbook partners via a league memo, the new regulations ban same-player under parlays, opening tip bets, missed shot wagers, and alternate lines on unders with high payouts.
According to league memos distributed to partner sportsbooks and teams, the NBA is utilizing its contractual authority to remove problematic bet types that could compromise game integrity. Under the new framework, bettors are barred from including single-player under statistics in parlays—a mechanism that federal prosecutors highlighted in cases involving former players Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier. In the case of Porter, investigators revealed that bettors placed massive parlays on his statistical unders before he intentionally left games early.
NBA Executive Vice President Scott Kaufman-Ross emphasized that the league weighed the necessity of removing problematic offerings against the risk of driving activity into illicit markets. In addition to parlay restrictions, sportsbooks are barred from taking wagers on opening tips, specific player missed shots, and under markets for athletes projected to play fewer than 12 minutes. Major operators including DraftKings and FanDuel confirmed their commitment to collaborating with the league to maintain strict compliance and protect game integrity.
Expanded team training and anti-harassment safeguards
Alongside sportsbook restrictions, the NBA issued a separate memo to teams outlining enhanced integrity measures for the new season. Former National Football League star and retired Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Charles Tillman will conduct in-person training sessions covering league sports betting rules. Furthermore, the organization is upgrading its in-house artificial intelligence data monitoring platform to detect anomalous wagering patterns. To safeguard personnel from bettor harassment, the league updated its fan code of conduct and partnered with Social Protect to provide players with opt-in tools for identifying and deleting abusive social media communications alongside a secure text message reporting hotline.
