The NBA has told its partner sportsbooks to stop offering bet types it views open to manipulation, including the single-player parlay at the center of its recent betting scandals. The details come from a memo distributed on October 16, 2026 and obtained by ESPN. CNBC’s Contessa Brewer spoke with Adam Silver, whom CNBC identified as the league’s commissioner, and he extended the concern beyond sportsbooks: “Whether it’s called a prediction market, whether it’s sports betting, it’s the same issues for our league as the NFL and that we think that there are integrity issues around all of this.”
Five Bet Types the NBA Wants Gone
According to ESPN’s account of the memo, partner sportsbooks must stop offering:
- Parlays that combine the under on the same player’s statistics
- Bets on the winner of the opening tip
- Bets on players missing specific shots
- Under bets on players expected to play fewer than 12 minutes
- Alternate lines on unders that carry larger payouts
The memo called the parlays “low likelihood, high payout bets.”
Single-Player Under Parlays Sit at the Center of Federal Cases
ESPN reported that under parlays on a single player appeared in the federal cases involving Jontay Porter and Terry Rozier. Porter admitted in court that he on purpose removed himself from games early to benefit bettors while on a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors during the 2023-24 season. Prosecutors said in the criminal complaint that one bettor placed an $80,000 parlay on the under on Porter’s stats for a March 2024 game that would have paid approximately $1.1 million. Porter left that game after three minutes.
Prosecutors say a similar approach involving Rozier in a March 2023 game. Rozier has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing. NBA executive vice president Scott Kaufman-Ross told ESPN the cases were factors in the decision.
League Draws a Line Between Integrity and the Illegal Market
Kaufman-Ross described the tradeoff to ESPN: “There’s a balance between ensuring that we are removing problematic bet types but also ensuring that we don’t just move activity into the illegal market. And where we landed right now, we think, is the right balance of those two objectives.”
ESPN also reported that the league is adding in-person training on betting rules led by Charles Tillman, a former NFL player and retired FBI agent, and enhancing its AI-based monitoring of unusual betting activity. Brewer noted that the NFL bars locker room staff from betting on football and runs strict monitoring.
DraftKings and FanDuel Accept the Limits
The NBA estimates its partner sportsbooks account for upward of 99% of the US betting market, per ESPN. DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG | DKNG Price Prediction) said some restrictions already reflect its practices and that it “supports the NBA’s efforts and is committed to continued collaboration with the league to maintain game integrity, including through appropriate limits on betting markets.” FanDuel, owned by Flutter Entertainment (NYSE:FLUT), said it remains committed to a legal and regulated market. CNBC also named Bally’s (NYSE:BALY) and BetMGM among the league’s authorized operators.
Prediction Markets Sit Outside the Memo’s Reach
Per ESPN, Kaufman-Ross said the league views prediction markets, has no formal partnerships with them, and acknowledged applying its restrictions there could be challenging. Silver’s comment reflects this gap.
For shareholders, the gap cuts two ways. DraftKings and FanDuel now honor limits that federally regulated prediction platforms may not follow. Both also run their own prediction products. DraftKings said over 600,000 customers had used its Predictions offering year to date by its second-quarter report, and estimated that 80% to 90% of prediction-market consumer volume in sportsbook states comes from professional syndicates and institutional traders. Flutter has flagged low single-digit cannibalization of handle from prediction market operators. Whether the NBA’s rules push restricted activity toward those platforms remains an open question.
Both Stocks Entered the Week Deep in the Red
As of 12:48 PM ET, DraftKings traded at $19.00, a -1.63% move on the session and -44.86% year to date. Flutter traded at $76.39, up 0.27%, and is -64.48% year to date. Nothing reported links today’s moves to the NBA memo. Both stocks were already down sharply this year as heavy spending on prediction products pressured margins; DraftKings swung to a GAAP net loss of $67.6M in the second quarter, and Flutter cut its full-year 2026 guidance.
What Investors Should Track Next
The memo strengthens the case that licensed sportsbooks are the league’s preferred integrity partners, and that standing has value when scandals hit. The cost is a product menu competitors may not match. The signal to watch is whether prediction markets adopt similar limits on single-player unders or the NBA makes formal agreements with them. Either outcome would narrow the gap DraftKings and FanDuel now operate inside.