By
Blake Roberts
Founder & Editor in Chief Updated: 21 March 2025
Blake Roberts Founder & Editor in Chief
Blake Roberts is the founder of Betting.US and is currently heading the creative team as Editor in Chief. Born and raised in Morgantown, West Virginia, Blake is a great sports fan, with football and basketball being his favorite. He’s our trusted voice for all betting-related matters.
On February 1, the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks. It is suspected that the trade fuelled an increase in bets on the NBA. The transaction was unexpected, and some analysts recognized it as a blockbuster deal. Over a month later, the swap is still making waves, with betting companies admitting that the trade more than likely caused an uptick in NBA Handle.
DraftKings CEO and co-founder, Jason Robins recently attended the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Office. This event saw the executives discuss several hot topics, including the increased interest in NBA betting.
Robins acknowledged the positive impact the transaction involving Luka Doncic had on NBA bets. He revealed that DraftKings rating for the NBA handle reached the values recorded in the previous quarter.
He emphasized,
I think the Luka trade sparked a lot of interest, and now the ratings are in a great spot relative to where they were a quarter ago, and we’ve seen a very similar trajectory on our handle for NBA.
There are many ways the Doncic trade could be increasing the NBA Handle. A more obvious reason would be that the team made frequent appearances on ESPN and TNT national broadcasts. Data shows that there is a direct correlation between television ratings for different sports and betting volumes.
Another reason Jason Robins noted is that with the 2024 presidential elections behind us, it could also be helping the NBA TV ratings. Many bettors could include Doncic in their same-game parlays or bet on his game props because his name is prominent and currently in the news.
Doncic said the move was difficult for him as he imagined spending his entire career with the Mavericks. The Mavericks are the team he led to the NBA finals only eight months prior to this trade. The business side of basketball left the young star shocked. In Doncic’s first three games with the Lakers, he averaged 14.7 points on 35.6 percent shooting and four turnovers.
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