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Best NBA betting sites in the UK for 2024

We take a look at the best NBA betting sites available to UK bettors

Becky Ashton
Wednesday 23 October 2024 07:15 EDT
(iStock)

The NBA's popularity among UK bettors is skyrocketing, driven by increased game accessibility, diverse betting options, and widespread live streaming, and as more British punters turn to NBA betting, finding the right platform has become crucial.

We've compiled a list of top-tier NBA betting sites tailored for UK punters, suitable for both newcomers and experienced bettors, so read on to discover the best platforms to enhance your NBA betting experience.

NBA betting sites

Best for

Betway

NBA free bets

Bet365

In-play betting

William Hill

Futures/ante-post betting

QuinnBet

Accumulators

Unibet

Mobile betting

BoyleSports

Early payouts

Kwiff

Price boosts

Best NBA betting sites 

In our attempts to find the best NBA betting sites we have thoroughly reviewed numerous platforms, considering factors like odds competitiveness, market variety, live betting features, and user experience.

Rather than rank our choice for the best betting sites for NBA numerically, we’ve picked out our favourite feature for each of the gambling sites selected.

Best NBA betting sites for free bets: Betway

Betway stands out as an excellent choice for NBA betting enthusiasts thanks to their extensive array of NBA betting markets, going beyond standard game outcomes to include a wide variety of player props and quarter-specific bets.

One of Betway's most attractive features is their free bets club, which is open to NBA bettors. Each week throughout the NBA season, bettors can claim £10 in free bets by wagering a minimum of £25 on NBA accumulators or bet builders.

While it's worth noting that the Betway sign-up offer can't be used for NBA wagers, they compensate for this with their free bets club offer, which is available each week of the season, from late October until June.

The regularity with which Betway offer up free bets, combined with the bookmaker’s user-friendly interface and competitive odds, make it a top contender for NBA betting in the UK market.

Best NBA betting sites for in-play betting: Bet365

Bet365 does an excellent job of covering most sports and basketball is no exception with a huge number of markets and a bet builder tool available for each and every NBA game.

Those joining using the bet365 bonus code INDY2024 can use the free bets they receive via the bet £10, get £30 offer entirely on NBA wagering should they choose to kickstart their journey with a bookmaker that provides in-play betting on all NBA matches.

Bet365 rank as one of our top live betting sites with a good selection of markets, up to the minute odds and stats a staple of their in-play service.

But the icing on the cake as far as bet365’s in-play NBA betting goes is the ability to live stream nearly every game from basketball’s top league on desktop and mobile.

You don’t need to have placed a bet on a game to watch, all you need is a funded account or to have placed a bet in the last 24 hours.

Best NBA betting sites for ante-post markets: William Hill

Once upon a time, William Hill were an official betting partner of the NBA before the bookmaker decided to pull out of the US market. Despite ending that working relationship, William Hill still run one of the best NBA betting sites, particularly for punters seeking ante-post wagers.

They have a huge range of futures markets, each competitively priced when compared with rival NBA betting sites, covering a range of team and player-based season-long bets.

Bettors can use William Hill’s #YourOdds bet creation tool to put together their own ante-post wagers or check out some of the ones created by other punters that are available on the Hill site.

Ahead of the NBA new season, William Hill will often boost the price on several ante-post wagers too, covering a range of markets, including the NBA Championship winner, league MVP and more.

The ante-post options add to what is a solid NBA betting site, one that will regularly produce a range of price boosts for matches and can count itself among the betting sites with cash out, which is available on several markets for NBA games.

On top of that, the William Hill sign-up offer can be used entirely to bet on the NBA with no restrictions placed on the £30 in free bets.

Best NBA betting sites for accumulators: QuinnBet

QuinnBet is still classed among new betting sites having only launched in 2017, but has quickly become a popular spot for bettors thanks to their large collections of offers and promotions across several sports.

Rather than have individual offers for each of the major US sports leagues, they instead have three all-encompassing US sports promotions.

Each of the offers involves accumulators with NBA bettors able to unlock a £5 free bet each day based on a percentage of how much they wagered in-play or on acca bets the previous day.

Quinn Bet also offer acca insurance, refunding a punter’s stake as a free bet up to the value of £10 if one leg of your NBA acca lets you down.

Finally, put together a winning NBA accumulator could result in QuinnBet handing out more free bets. Their acca bonus scheme awards bettors a free bet, up to £50, on successful acca bets, with the free bet prize calculated as a percentage of the winnings.

QuinnBet features on our list of the best accumulator betting sites, but it isn’t just the acca offers that leads us to recommend them as an NBA betting site. They generally have a good selection of NBA markets and the QuinnBet sign-up offer can be used for NBA bets.

Best NBA betting app: Unibet

Unibet ranks as one of the largest UK basketball betting sites, boasting over 1000 markets for bettors to choose from, covering leagues from right across the globe.

Naturally, they reserve their best work for the NBA, offering bet builders and specials markets on each game, while we were impressed with the number of futures markets they had available, covering each of the 30 NBA teams.

Best of all, Unibet stream the majority of NBA games and allow bettors to watch the action, even if they haven’t had a bet on the game.

All these features and more are available on the Unibet app, which has a rating of 4.1 of out five from both iOS and Android users, placing it in the company of some of the best betting apps available in the UK.

The combination of Unibet’s extensive NBA service and the excellent Unibet app are a powerful partnership that plenty of NBA bettors can enjoy. It’s just a shame the Unibet sign-up offer, which consists of a bet £10, get £40 in free bets set-up, can’t be used for NBA bets.

Best NBA betting sites for early payouts: BoyleSports

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BoyleSports have slowly become the kings of the early payout offer and fans of a huge number of sports will find the bookmaker happy to pay out early on match wagers if certain conditions are met.

Those looking for early payouts on NBA betting sites will find bet365 and Boyles are their only options, with BoyleSports happy to settle bets should one team go 17 points ahead in a match.

Bettors will have to take a slightly worse price than the usual match odds if they want to take advantage of the early payout scheme on BoyleSports, but the offer is available for every NBA game and covers both singles and accumulators.

Speaking of accas, BoyleSports have a great range of accumulator offers that are eligible for NBA bets, including acca insurance, a 100 per cent profit boost on winning accas and a free bet offer, handing out a £5 free bet for every five accumulators a bettor places.

NBA bettors can use the BoyleSports sign-up offer to wager on the NBA, while Boyles have a history of regularly boosting the odds on several markets for selected NBA matches.

Best NBA betting sites for odds boosts: Kwiff

Kwiff are an online bookmaker that pride themselves on doing things differently from other NBA betting sites, boosting the odds and payouts on NBA bets at random.

Bets can be ‘Kwiffed’ or boosted at random by the bookmaker, while they also supercharge the cashout amount on bets at times. If your bet is supercharged, you could also be in line for a £10 free surprise bet should your supercharged wager be one of the 10 biggest on Kwiff that week.

NBA punters can also guarantee to have their first accumulator of the weekend boosted as part of the ‘Supercharge Your Weekend’ promotion on Kwiff.

The Kwiff sign-up offer can’t be used to bet on the NBA, but they do run a free bets club that rewards punters with up to £20 in free bets each week that can be used to bet on basketball.

How we rank and review NBA betting sites 

We have stringent criteria we expect the best online NBA betting sites to meet even to be considered for our list. Here are some of the factors that went into our thinking:

Welcome offers

Getting off on the right foot with a new bookmaker is important and NBA betting sites that run a welcome package that can be spent on NBA bets is always a bonus. We have highlighted some betting sites where the sign up offer can’t be used for basketball bets, but they make up for it in other ways.

NBA odds & markets

A wide range of NBA betting markets is a must-have. Our review team are on the lookout for NBA betting sites offering various markets, including player props, all of which should be competitively priced.

Promotions

All our best NBA betting sites run at least one NBA betting offer, or run a promotion that can be used for wagering on basketball’s top professional league. Bettors being able to get more bang for their buck is an important consideration when looking at NBA betting sites.

Mobile betting

With the majority of bets now placed using a mobile device, a solid betting app or mobile betting site is a must-have feature for our recommended NBA betting sites. We take a look at the rankings and reviews given to betting apps on the Apple Store and Google Play Store to gauge opinion on them and check how well each betting site translate from a desktop to the small screen.

Payment options

A diverse range of payment methods is essential for a top-rated NBA betting site. We evaluate the variety of deposit and withdrawal options, with preference given to fast withdrawal betting sites. NBA bookmakers should be able to cater to every bettor’s preferred banking method, whether that’s transactions made by debit card or those looking for PayPal betting sites, among other e-wallet providers.

In-play betting

In-play betting isn’t just about being able to offer odds a handful of markets while an NBA game is ongoing. There’s so much more NBA betting sites can offer, including providing live streams and up to the minute stats to go with a good range of markets and betting options, such as in-play bet builders.

Customer support & security

There are two aspects the best safe betting sites consider when looking to keep their users out of harm. The first is security and making sure they have top-level encryption and firewell to keep a bettor’s personal data safe. The second is making sure users can get help whenever they need it via 24/7 customer support across various methods, including live chat, email and telephone calls.

Responsible gambling

Another part of keeping a bettor safe online is reinforcing the responsible gambling message. Bettors should be able to easily access information on responsible gambling on their chosen NBA betting site, as well as a range of tools to help them stay in control.

NBA betting offers and promotions

Popular NBA betting offers and promotions provide extra value to bettors in various ways. Here are some of the most common offers an NBA bettor is likely to find:

Enhanced odds: Boosting the price of a particular NBA bet is common practice across the best NBA betting sites. The boost could apply to a match or an ante-post bet, while some bookmakers will offer multiple price boosts on the same game.

Accumulator bonuses: With so many NBA games to bet on, accumulator bets are popular with basketball bettors. Those looking to put together an acca will usually find they can either take out insurance to get their stake back if one leg of their acca lets them down, or earn a profit boost on winning accumulators.

Free bet clubs: Several NBA betting sites offer free bets clubs, giving bettors a chance to earn a free bet via their weekly wagering. Each free bets clubs has different requirements to unlock the reward, such as minimum odds or selected markets, so make sure to read the terms and conditions before betting.

Early payouts: Getting your wager settled before the end of a game is always a nice feeling and NBA bettors will find a couple of NBA betting sites offer this service. They’ll pay out on a result if one team goes a certain number of points ahead at any point in a game, no matter the final outcome.

What other basketball leagues are available to bet on?

While the NBA is the most popular basketball league for betting, it’s not the only show in town and basketball betting sites will likely offer odds on a variety of different leagues and competitions.

In America, the NBA faces stiff competition from college basketball, which is popular among US bettors, particularly when the NCAA’s March Madness tournament rolls around.

The WNBA is also growing in popularity, while a little closer to home, Europe’s top basketball competition is the EuroLeague, which pits the best teams from across the continent against one-another.

Responsible gambling

Responsible gambling isn’t just a slogan, but a mantra every punter could stand to operate by. Betting should only ever be considered a form of entertainment – it will never be a surefire way to make money, no matter how much you think you know about your chosen sport.

Betting can also be addictive, so please make sure you take the neccessary steps to remain in control of your time and budget.

Make sure you use the safer gambling tools offered by gambling sites such as deposit limits, reality checks, loss limits, time-outs and self-exclusion.

If you have gambling-related concerns, then seek independent help. There are several UK charities and institutions that offer support, advice and information, with a few listed below:

Best NBA betting sites: In summary

While we can recommend what we think are the best NBA betting sites, the truth is that every bettor is looking for something different from their bookmaker. What’s ‘best’ for one person will be different to what’s ‘best’ for another. The important thing is to decide what is important for you and know how you like to bet.

Whatever your requirements, hopefully, this information can help you make an informed decision about where to place your NBA bets.

Each of our recommended operators are fully licensed and regulated by the UKGC, ensuring that customers are using safe betting sites that offer safety and security for both personal and financial data.

Every site listed here is safe and legal but it’s important that you only pick a site that resonates with how you intend to bet and what you want to bet on, so take some time to explore now so you are ready to bet on your NBA favourites.

NBA betting sites FAQs

Does overtime count in NBA betting?

This can vary from one NBA betting site to another, but in most cases, overtime does count when it comes to settling moneyline, spread and total points wagers.

It is recommended to check with your online bookmaker first if you are unsure. A look in the help section or a quick chat with a member of the customer service team can usually resolve the query quickly.

Can I watch NBA games on betting sites?

Many betting sites do offer live streaming of NBA games, but this feature varies depending on the specific site, your location and any rights restrictions from TV coverage.

You also usually need to have an account with the betting site to access live streams and some sites require you to have placed a bet or to have a positive account balance to watch streams.

What does spread mean in NBA betting?

In NBA betting, the "spread" is a virtual point handicap given to the underdog team. It's shown as a positive number for the underdog and a negative number for the favourite. To win a bet:

  • The favourite must win by more than the spread.
  • The underdog must either win or lose by less than the spread.

Are free bets the same as free spins on NBA betting sites?

No. Free bets and free spins are two separate rewards. Free bets can only be used on a sportsbook, while free spins can only be used on casino sites or slot sites. Some NBA betting sites will give you free spins as part of their welcome offer.

We may earn commission from some of the links in this article, but we never allow this to influence our content. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

We aim to offer every online gambler and reader of The Independent a safe and fair platform through unbiased reviews and offers from the UK’s best online gambling companies.

Gambling can be addictive, always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. Gambling sites have a number of tools to assist you to stay in control, including deposit limits and time outs. If you think you have a problem, advice and support is available for you now from BeGambleAware or Gamcare.

Any offers or odds listed in this article are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Terms & Conditions apply to all offers.

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