NBA betting increases as Sky signs new broadcasting partnership

The NBA season got underway this week, as the much fancied Boston Celtics picked up an entertaining 105-87 victory against the 76ers.

With the liberalisation of sports betting in the US, this NBA season will inevitably attract exponential interest from the betting sector.

Additionally, Oddschecker revealed that the UK gambling sector has seen interest in the NBA increase, after Sky Sports signed a broadcasting deal with the league.

Unsurprisingly, given the dynasty currently in place at the Golden State Warriors, it comes as no surprise that Steph Curry and co are comfortably the most backed side to capture the NBA Championship.

Oddschecker detailed that despite the short price tag of 8/13, they’ve accrued the majority of antepost bets on who will be crowned champions.

Over all time periods, they’re the most backed. Over the last 90 days they’ve attracted 34% of all bets, and over the last seven days they’ve attracted 39% of all bets.

After a strong opening night performance, the Boston Celtics are the only franchise even close to rivalling Steve Kerr’s side, accruing 10% of all bets over the last week.

When it comes to player bets, which are sure to be increasingly more popular for this upcoming campaign, Oddschecker also detailed that Giannis Antetokoumpo heavily backed in the race for MVP.

The 6-foot-11 forward has spearheaded Milwaukee’s push for the playoffs last year – and it has not gone unnoticed by punters.

A total of 65% of all bets in the MVP market have been backing the “Greek Freak” to be heralded as the best performing player of the regular season.

Despite being heavily backed in the race for MVP, Giannis is still seen by bookies as third favourite behind league stalwarts Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

Although the “Greek Freak” has attracted well over half of all betting, the 23-year-old can still be found at +900 best price through various bookmakers.

Oddschecker spokesperson George Elek commented: “We’ve seen a tremendous amount of traffic on MVP betting on one of the most exciting players to grace the league for a number of seasons.

“Although Giannis is third in terms of likelihood of winning, we’ve seen 65% of all bets placed on the market going on the Milwaukee maverick scooping the coveted prize.”