Work

Sentiment Bias in National Basketball Association Betting

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: We develop evidence of bettors with sentiment bias in the betting market on National Basketball Association (NBA) games. We use measures of team popularity (arena capacity utilization and team all-star votes received) as proxies for the presence of biased bettors. Analysis of point spreads and bet outcomes for more than 32,000 NBA games played in 1981-2012 shows that bookmakers increase prices on games involving popular home teams, an outcome consistent with sentiment bias. These changes in prices do not translate into higher returns for bettors, suggesting that bookmakers shade point spreads to increase profits.

Source: Journal of Sports Economics

DOI: 10.1177/1527002516656726

Authors: Arne Feddersen, Brad R. Humphreys, Brian P. Soebbing

Institutions: University of Southern Denmark, West Virginia University, Temple University

Language: English

Topic: Sports Analytics and Performance

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W2472731915

FWCI: 3.199

Cites: 52

Cited by: 25

Related to: 10