Topline
More than three quarters of Americans think NBA players and coaches are very, somewhat, or occasionally involved in illegal activities to influence betting on NBA games, a new Quinnipiac University poll shows, amid what one professor called a “trust problem” after Terry Rozier, Chauncey Billups and others were arrested and tied to an illegal gambling scheme.
Key Facts
In response to a question about how often players and coaches may be involved in illegally influencing betting on NBA games, 12% of respondents said they were “very” involved, 21% said “somewhat” and 43% said “occasionally” (others said “rarely if ever” or skipped the question).
When asked about specific ways that NBA players or coaches could be influencing sports betting, respondents said they think leaking confidential information about NBA player availability is likely the most common behavior, followed by coaches making roster decisions to influence bets and players purposefully missing shots and rebounds or faking injuries.
Americans are split on whether NBA games are played fairly—50% said they’re confident that games are played without the influence of players and coaches involved in influencing sports betting.
NBA fans were more confident in fairness than the average American—67% of self-identified fans are either very confident (14%) or somewhat confident (53%) that NBA games are played fairly—but in specific questions about illegal activity by players and coaches, fans answered similarly to their peers.
Overall, almost seven out of 10 Americans (68%) think involvement of NBA players and coaches in illegal sports betting is a problem.
The poll surveyed 1,013 adults nationwide, 399 of whom self-identified as NBA fans.
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Crucial Quote
“Perception is important, and right now the NBA clearly has a perception problem. It might, too, have a trust problem,” Nick Pietruszkiewicz, program director of sports communications at Quinnipiac University, said in a press release.
