NBA restricts player-specific wagers for 2026-27 season

The NBA has directed its sportsbook partners to stop offering several player-specific wagers for the 2026-27 season, including bets on the first events of a game and certain parlays involving multiple under bets on one player. The restrictions are part of the league’s efforts to address wagers it considers vulnerable to manipulation while retaining legal betting options. A memo sent to sportsbooks lists prohibited markets such as wagers on which player records a game’s first basket, rebound, assist, steal or block, and bets on the outcome of the opening tip. The league also barred parlays combining multiple under wagers on one player’s statistics and under bets on players expected to play only a few minutes. The restrictions build on earlier limits involving some contract players, turnovers, fouls and missed free throws. NBA executive Scott Kaufman-Ross said the league sought to remove problematic bet types without driving betting activity into illegal markets. The rules narrow the available wagers rather than eliminating player-prop betting altogether. The reports did not specify how each sportsbook will implement the restrictions. In a separate memo to teams, the league said...