According to the new agreement between the players union and the league, active NBA players may promote and invest in NBA betting websites and fantasy sports businesses.
The NBA betting changes that were initially revealed in a tweet by Shams Charania of The Athletic will go into effect with the start of the 2023–2024 season. The CBA is the second time in 2023 that a major American sports organization has loosened its restrictions on player involvement in gambling.
Regarding the new CBA:
- Players may take part in fantasy sports or sports betting that promotes betting on non-NBA sports or general commercial promotion;
- For businesses that provide or handle NBA bets or competitions, players are only permitted to own a passive, non-controlling investment of less than 1%.
This is quite earth-shaking for the sports betting industry, which will undoubtedly change the way it operates. You can keep up with the latest news about the gambling and sports betting industries at www.igamingnj.com, they also have many articles, guides, latest bonuses, and much more.
Basketball-Related Income
Almost all the league teams have at least one sponsor in the sports betting industry. Many teams, such as the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks, have many.
Sportsbooks are physically present within the venues of teams like the Washington Wizards and Phoenix Suns as a result of these collaborations. Also, there are partnerships with companies that offer sports betting data.
Since opening its doors to sports betting, the NBA has accepted gambling-related revenues as basketball-related income, with players and owners splitting the proceeds 51 to 49%. Similar language may be found in the NFL’s CBA.
MLB and NBA Are on Equal Footing
Since sports betting became legalized in certain jurisdictions, gambling restrictions have mainly precluded US players from appearing in advertisements, like those for BetMGM or Caesars that featured the Manning brothers or Kevin Garnett, until after their playing careers are done. That is starting to change.
Following MLB CBA revisions identical to those in the NBA, Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon became the first active MLB player to promote a sportsbook in 2022, albeit his sponsor is no longer in business. NHL players John Tavares, Connor McDavid, and Auston Matthews all have sponsors in the world of sports betting. However, it should be noted that all three of them play in Canada, which has different sports betting laws than the US.
Adapting to the Climate of NBA Betting Changes
The once-hostile legal position of professional leagues toward sports betting has softened as a result of financial possibilities, but its adoption has not been without controversy.
Police are looking into a postgame fight between Bradley Beal and a fan who apparently yelled at Beal for losing a bet. Beal is a prominent player for the Washington Wizards. Some well-known media personalities in the league, like ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, hypothesized that a rise in fan violence could be related to sports betting. Adam Silver, the commissioner of the NBA, has rejected that idea and instead has connected fan incidents to wider social issues.
The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2017, months after the expired CBA went into effect, and marked the beginning of a revolution in sports betting throughout the country.
