New Prop Betting Rules on the Way for NBA?

Major League Baseball was the first. The NFL came next. According to reports, it now looks like the NBA will soon be restricting prop betting in their sport.

The NBA head office has written a memo to teams on new sports betting regulations, according to ESPN NBA writer Shams Charania. Injury reporting is a major component of the new regulations.

The federal case against Terry Rozier, the guard for the Miami Heat, went on Tuesday in a New York court. Rozier's attorneys are seeking the dismissal of conspiracy charges against their client for wire fraud and money laundering in connection with sports betting.

Charges for Rozier

During his time with the Charlotte Hornets, Rozier allegedly engaged in bookmakers' business by purposefully withdrawing from an NBA game in March 2023 because of an injury.

It is alleged that a co-conspirator received the information and sold it to bettors. Rozier benefited directly from the more than $250K in prop bets made by those bettors. According to the prosecution, Rozier's ailment was not disclosed to the public or sportsbooks and was not included in the Hornets' pregame injury bulletins.

New Guidelines for Reporting Injuries

Reports state that teams will now have to update public reports every 15 minutes and resubmit injury listings on game days between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. local time under the new regulations.

According to reports, the NBA is also seeking to collaborate with sports bookmakers in order to impose restrictions on prop bets involving specific players. There would be restrictions on "under" prop bets as well as a cap on the maximum amount that could be wagered.

Sportsbook operators decided to impose a $200 wagering cap on micro-betting around individual pitches in MLB games and to forbid these kinds of bets from being included in parlays, just weeks after two Cleveland Guardians pitchers were charged in an October sports betting and money laundering conspiracy.

MLB Limitations on Prop Betting

The NFL informed teams in November of the types of wagers that are prohibited, such as "markets or bets that are inherently or designed to be derogatory or inflammatory, or otherwise based on subject matter against public policy," markets pertaining to officiating, and markets centered around predetermined outcomes that are directly related to on-field competition (e.g., Will the QB start this week? Will a run or a pass be the team's first play after scrimmage?