The NBA Player Became the Bet. Who Profits When Every Moment Has a Price?

Jontay Porter was supposed to be playing basketball. Instead, his performance became the center of a betting scheme that ended his NBA career.

In 2024, the NBA banned the former Toronto Raptors player after an investigation found that he disclosed confidential information to bettors, limited his participation in a game for betting purposes and wagered on NBA games.

Porter later pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge tied to the scheme.

He is responsible for his actions. Bruh bet more than $50 million on FanDuel, from September, 2021, to November, 2023 according to The New Yorker. But his story also reveals something bigger about the business of sports.

As leagues have embraced sports betting, a player’s rebounds, points, minutes and other individual performances have become products people can wager on.

Sportsbooks package those moments into bets. Leagues provide access to official data and intellectual property. Fans supply attention—and money.

The game remains on the court. The market built around it reaches much further.

From watching the game to betting on every moment

Sports betting once centered largely on questions such as which team would win or how many points a game would produce.

Today, fans can also wager on individual player statistics and events within a game. These are often called proposition bets, or “prop bets.”

Will a player score more or fewer than a certain number of points? How many rebounds will he collect? How will a particular play unfold?

The distinction matters. A single game can now generate many opportunities to place a wager, each tied to a different moment or outcome.

The NBA has helped build that commercial environment.

Its agreements with DraftKings and FanDuel have given the companies access to official NBA betting data and league marks. The league lists both companies among its official gaming partners.

Official data has value because a betting market needs reliable information to create and settle wagers. League logos and partnerships help connect those products to a familiar sports brand.

For the league and its partners, the relationship creates commercial opportunity. For fans, it makes betting more visible and more closely connected to the experience of watching a game.

When the player becomes the product

Porter’s case shows what can happen when an athlete’s individual performance is also the subject of a wager.

According to the NBA, unusual betting activity drew attention to a game in which Porter limited his participation. The league’s investigation also found that he had disclosed confidential information about his health to a bettor before another game.

The league acted against Porter. And it has since worked with partners to limit some types of bets considered vulnerable to manipulation, including certain “under” bets involving players expected to play limited minutes.

Those measures address an obvious concern: protecting the integrity of the game.

There is also a broader economic question. When individual performances are packaged into products, players can face new pressure around every statistic.

A missed shot or early exit may disappoint a fan who wants the team to win. It may also affect someone who has money on that player’s performance.

Athletes have always performed under scrutiny. Betting gives more people a direct financial stake in the details of that performance.

The value of a customer who keeps betting

The New Yorker’s investigation into Porter traces his gambling, mounting debt and relationships with people who became involved in the scheme. It also examines how betting companies cultivate high-value customers through VIP programs.

The magazine reports that Porter received perks and regular attention through FanDuel’s VIP program.

It said that data from the period showed VIP players accounted for less than half of one percent of the company’s monthly users and nearly $600 million in revenue during the year examined.

A customer who keeps betting can become more valuable to a platform over time.

But repeated betting can also create serious losses for the customer. The point at which a valuable relationship becomes a harmful one is a consequential place for oversight.

The distinction between protecting the integrity of a bet and protecting the person placing it matters here.

Suspicious activity can trigger scrutiny because an outcome may have been manipulated. A bettor experiencing harm may need a different kind of intervention.

Both deserve attention.

Why this matters for Black communities

Sports are deeply connected to Black culture, labor and economic influence.

Black athletes help create the performances that draw audiences, shape league brands and make sports valuable to broadcasters, sponsors and betting companies.

Black consumers are also part of the betting market.

In a 2025 Pew Research Center survey, Black and Hispanic adults were among the groups more likely than some other demographic groups to report having bet on sports in the previous year.

That measure includes bets with friends or family as well as bets placed online or in person; it does not establish how much any group lost.

That distinction matters.

Participation alone does not tell us who is experiencing gambling harm, how much money is leaving particular communities, or whether protections are reaching the people who need them.

It does tell us that the growth of this market is relevant to Black households, athletes and institutions.

The questions extend beyond whether someone wins or loses a wager:

• Who controls the platforms and the data?
• Who receives revenue as betting becomes more integrated into sports?
• What happens when a customer’s losses begin to threaten household financial stability?
• What responsibility comes with promoting and profiting from the activity?

Who owns the upside?

The sports-betting economy brings together several sources of value: the athlete’s performance, the league’s brand and data, the platform’s technology, and the fan’s attention and money.

Those contributions do not all carry the same risks.

A league can negotiate commercial agreements. A sportsbook can set terms, offer promotions and manage customer accounts. A bettor can lose money. A player who violates league rules can lose a career. A family may be left to deal with the consequences.

Porter’s case is an extreme example, and most people who place a sports bet will not experience his circumstances. Still, the incentives exposed by the story belong in the conversation as betting becomes a more visible part of sports.

The economic question is not simply whether a bet is legal.

It is whether the people and institutions benefiting from the market are doing enough to account for the risks that come with it.

---

Stay informed: Subscribe to The Economics Behind It for more reporting on who owns, controls and benefits from the forces shaping Black economic life.