NBA Last 90 Will Allow Betting on Games That Never Happened

Published on June 22nd, 2019 11:51 am EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Of the four major professional sports leagues in North America, the NBA (National Basketball Association) has been the most proactive when it comes to gambling. Everything changed when Adam Silver was named as the new Commissioner of the league, as former Commission David Stern was forcefully opposed to legal sports betting in the United States.

Silver has taken a different approach, however, as he has argued that legalized sports betting would be very good for the NBA's business, and he is absolutely right.

As sports betting continues to be legalized across the United States, the NBA announced a new initiative earlier this week called "NBA Last 90".

"NBA Last 90" will be a sports betting product that will allow betting on virtual games that never actually happened. Here is how it will work.

Using highlights from games that have actually taken place, the "NBA Last 90" product will splice together the final 90 seconds of a game and allow gamblers to bet on the results. So, you could bet on who you think will win the game, how many points will be scored in the last 90 seconds, etc.

If you think that this sounds crazy, please understand that betting on virtual events (such as virtual horse races) is big, big business in the rest of the world.

"NBA Last 90" will be offered in collaboration with the NBA players union and Highlight Games Ltd, which will be building the spliced games to offer for betting. Highlight Games Ltd. will have access to the massive NBA archive of games, and they will be able to pull from many different years. For instance, a virtual game between the Lakers and 76ers could use highlights from 5, 10 or even 25 years ago.

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"NBA Last 90" will be offered starting in 2020 in legal US and European markets.

Source: Bloomberg.com - The NBA Wants You To Bet on Games That Never Happened