NBA Return Spells Good News For Betting Community

Published: 05/06/2020 | Last Updated: 08/06/2020

Reading Time: 3 Min

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The National Basketball Association (NBA) recently confirmed that it is resuming the rest of its regular season after the forced lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Basketball fans around the world rejoice for this good news, and so does the betting community.

The league will return but not to its full lineup. It will only involve 22 teams, 13 from the Western Conference and nine from the Eastern Conference. Moreover, it will not follow its regular Home-Away setup, instead all games will be played in a Disney facility in Orlando.

Prior to the lockdown the NBA regular season only has a handful of games to play before the start of the playoffs. As such, only teams with a viable shot at the playoffs will return to play. The NBA confirms that each team will play eight regular season games, before transitioning to the 16-team playoffs.

What this means for the betting community

The NBA is shortening its regular season games. The league is also proposing to adopt a shorter playoff format. This changes will have drastic effects to betting futures.

For one, bets for a team winning the division, as well as total number of regular season wins will be greatly affected. The NBA has yet to confirm whether its proposed play-in tournaments will be considered as a win towards the regular season.

Although bookmakers have different rules, most of them follow some general guidelines when it comes to betting. Nevertheless, many agree that the recent changes by the league will have great effect to wagers that have already been placed.

Many bookmakers are still honoring all bets made for the Eastern Conference, Western Conference, and eventual NBA champions. However, only bets placed before the March 11 lockdown are still in play.

Perhaps the most difficult to explain is the Season Win bets. Some bookmakers accept bets with regards to the total number of wins a particular team will accrue over the course of the season. With the entire regular season shortened, these bets will more or less be voided.

Return of sports and betting

Aside from the NBA, a number of sporting organizations have also confirmed the resumption of their operations. The National Hockey League recently confirmed that it is resuming its season albeit with a different format. The NHL confirms that it will resume its season using a 24-team play-in tournament.

In Europe, a number of football leagues have also resumed their season. Since social distancing is still widely implemented, most of these teams play on an empty stadium with their games being broadcasted.

Betting shops around the region have also resumed operations. While some actual physical shops are now open to receive bets, most operations are done online through various websites and betting platforms. Some people are starting to appreciate the convenience these online platforms are offering.

This is still considered as an early development. Experts are expecting that additional changes will be announced within the coming days. As the sporting industry offers some semblance of normalcy to their fans, so does the betting community.