As one of the most popular sports worldwide, basketball comes second just to football. The National Basketball Association (NBA) was founded in America in just 1946, originally under the name of Basketball Association of America, making it one of the more recent sports in US history. The sport has produced some of the nation's most notable sports stars, including Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, and Michael Jordon.
Each season, there are billions of dollars on bets for the NBA's regular season alone - not including March Madness. It’s an unprecedented sum for a game that lasts around 2 hours for 82 games total.
What is basketball betting?
As a new sport, the origin of betting on basketball likely started when the sport came to fruition. And while there is no set date for when the betting started, it still has gained worldwide notoriety, being part of sportsbooks everywhere. As sports betting continues to be legalized across the nation, the popularity of basketball betting will only rise.
Similar to how the Superbowl is the most-awaited day in football, March Madness is one of the most highly anticipated events in basketball. This brings another round of betting opportunities for players to lay down their money for the winner of each game and then for which winning team will take it all. Because of how big betting is on basketball, the NBA was one of the first leagues to use corporate sponsors with their partnership with DraftKings. On top of that, the NBA has also stated that it would like to partner with every sportsbook in the US, making it all that much inclusive for bettors.