The NBA is one of the most widely followed and valuable sports leagues in the world, attracting millions of viewers and fans worldwide. Merchandise, sponsorship, and TV rights generate billions for the US economy, not to mention all the other industries that benefit, including local businesses and the sports betting industry.
However, the league has faced an issue for years with tanking. The integrity of the sport is called into question, and fans and bettors are feeling shortchanged by teams not playing to their potential.
For a long time consumers have been able to discover new sports betting platforms with exciting deals, extensive markets, and easy access to enjoy NBA games by getting in on the action. According to sports betting expert James Briscoe, these new sports betting sites generously give users welcome bonuses more than 150%, crypto support, attractive game prizes, as well as loyalty programs. Despite the traction in the industry, the NBA has a tanking problem akin to match fixing, a problem that has to end.
What is Tanking?
The world of sports is often affected by match fixing scandals, but tanking is different from this. Tanking in the NBA refers to teams intentionally losing games, usually by fielding non-competitive teams or by making decisions that facilitate poor performance.
While match fixing would usually only involve one or two players and involve an element of criminal behavior, tanking can be beneficial for clubs in the long term.
Why do Teams Choose to Tank?
Teams that are not in a position to challenge for the championship or at a stage where they need to rebuild will start tanking at a certain point in the season in an attempt to finish lower and secure a higher draft pick.
The NBA draft lottery involves all the teams that did not make the playoffs. Teams that finish lower end up having a better chance of earning the first pick.
This will give them a much better chance of being competitive in the future, so it can be worthwhile for teams that drop out of the running to go all out to finish as low as possible.
Providing an incentive for teams to lose is the main problem here, and when compared with European soccer leagues, you can see the major difference.
In the English Premier League, teams that finish higher in the league earn a bigger portion of the prize money shared out across all the teams. The prospect of qualifying for European qualification also spurs teams on to perform well until the last game of the season.
Soccer leagues also operate systems where teams are relegated to lower divisions when they finish in the bottom few positions.
In the NBA, teams don’t have to worry about relegation, and the benefit of having a higher draft pick can be extremely valuable should they wish to use it to improve their roster or use it as a bargaining tool.
Potential Measures to Curb Tanking Risk
Anti-tanking measures are difficult to implement, but there are discussions about some potential changes. One way to do this could be to flatten the lottery odds to a greater extent. However, this could favor more competitive teams and lead to a bigger gap in quality between teams.
Teams might also be in a position to take a chance at securing franchise-altering prospects rather than pushing for the postseason.
The current system is aimed at promoting fairness and allowing every team to have the opportunity to become competitive. However, this only works if every team tries to win every match, so the final table is a genuine reflection of the league’s quality.
Tanking has become widespread because teams are being rewarded for losing more games, and one suggestion is to flip this so that lottery odds are determined by wins in the second half of the schedule. Incentivizing wins would make for a more competitive run-in to the league season, making it better for spectators and bettors.
Financial sanctions against teams that have tanked have not worked, with the Dallas Mavericks taking a $750,000 hit in 2023 to keep their protected pick. Mid-lottery pick protections can encourage teams to perform badly, and removing this could be a solution.
Other suggestions include altering how the lottery odds are determined by changing it to how teams perform against each other, while others want the system to remain in place, but clamping down on rule-breakers and teams that tank.
Tanking is a selfish act by teams, and engaging with all the teams in the league to come up with a strategy would be the fairest way to move forward. If teams can agree to stop doing this and face tough sanctions, including being penalized in the draft, then there should be no complaints.
The value of improving the odds for a draft pick can’t be pinpointed exactly, but it can make a huge difference to who teams are able to recruit. Tanking is also cheating fans out of competitive games, so tackling this problem will benefit everyone involved in the game.
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