Will Bettors Care About the New NBA All-Star Game Format?

Posted on: February 14, 2025, 10:46h. 

Last updated on: February 14, 2025, 12:26h.

Mark Keast Read More
Expertise: Canadian Gaming, iGaming, Las Vegas, Sports Betting, NFL, Boxing, UFC.
  • New format for NBA All-Star Weekend
  • Four-team tournament Sunday with $125K per player up for grabs
  • Avello sees potential betting interest in format

The NBA has upended the all-star game format for this season in an attempt to make the event more entertaining compared to the touch-free, high-scoring exhibitions of recent seasons, including last year’s matchup where the East beat the West 211-186.

The NBA has changed the format with its All-Star Weekend this year, introducing a four-team tournament. (Image: Unsplash)

The NBA All-Star Weekend ramps up in the San Francisco Bay Area starting Friday.

LeBron? Jokic? Do Bettors Care?

Yes, they do, according to DraftKings’ Director of Race & Sportsbook Operations and Las Vegas Strip bookmaker Johnny Avello.

The NBA All-Star Game typically attracts robust action,” Avello told Casino.org. “While the league has implemented changes in recent years, it remains a marquee event showcasing the world’s top players in a primetime TV slot. I’m not yet sure how the changes for this year will be perceived, but I do anticipate plenty of action and chatter on the game nonetheless.”

This time, four teams will play a three-game tournament with games to 40 points. Stephen Curry teams up with LeBron James and Kevin Durant on Team Shaq, the first time those three have teamed up since leading Team USA to Olympic gold this past summer in Paris.

$125K Per Player in Prize Money on the Line

Victor Wembanyama leads international stars like Nikola Jokic and MVP favorite Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Team Chuck. The third team (Team Kenny) is comprised of young stars led by Anthony Edwards, Cade Cunningham, and Evan Mobley. The fourth team (Team Candace) is the one that wins the Rising Stars competition tonight.

The winners of the two semi-final matchups advance to a championship game. There’s no clock (except for the shot clock) and nobody fouls out. The game tips off at 8 p.m. EST on Sunday. Saturday night will feature the skills challenge, the 3-point contest, and the slam dunk contest.

McGrady: Older Guys Won’t Want to Lose to Younger Generation

Tracy McGrady likes the format. The seven-time NBA All-Star told BetVictor Canada that he expects the tournament to be competitive. McGrady is BetVictor Canada’s safer gambling ambassador.

“Throwing the young guys into the mix in this way makes the whole NBA All-Star tournament more competitive,” he said. “Those veteran players are not going to want to lose to the Rising Stars; big brother won’t want to be upstaged by little brother.”

McGrady said the competitors also have the incentive of some pretty good prize money – $125K per player on the winning team.

“That’s a nice piece of summer spending money for whoever comes out on top,” he said. “We’ll wait and see what the fans think of it and how it all plays out but my feeling is it will be better and more competitive.”

Skills Competition Sees Betting Interest

Phillip Gray, an iGaming consultant is looking toward the skills competition when it comes to betting interest. 

“NBA All-Star weekend has always attracted a lot of betting interest with the skills competitions, lots of line movement from the openers to closing,” he said. “The game itself as well is usually some very good handle. It’s very hard to handicap when you’re not sure just how hard some of those players are trying.”

Gray added that with the NHL regular schedule on break, handle on the All-Star Game should go up significantly.
“I would expect the in-play offerings to increase quite a bit, with loads of opportunities to get down on it. I would be interested to know what books will accept in terms of limit bets, as these lines can always be quite volatile.”

Early Money on Curry and Durant for MVP

The trading team at PointsBet Canada sees the NBA event a little differently.

We have seen very limited action so far on NBA All-Star Weekend,” a spokesperson there said. “It’s usually not a popular betting event, and we don’t expect that to change this year. We are not anticipating the new format to suddenly bring a newfound energy to bettors.”

Glen Hyslop, a trader at BetVictor, says it’s not the busy on their front as well.

“We have seen some early money for Durant and Curry MVP but nothing really to note,” he said.

BetMGM Odds

As of Friday morning, Team Shaq has the shortest odds to win the tournament at +105 (38.5% tickets, 66.1% handle), at BetMGM. They’re followed by Team Chuck at +185 (21.2% tickets, 18.1% handle), Team Kenny at +450 (15.4% tickets, 8.6% handle), and Team Candace at +900 (24.9% tickets, 7.3% handle).

Odds have shifted the most on Curry for MVP, from +800 to +500. Mac McClung is -200 to win the dunk contest. Damian Lillard is the betting favorite (+340) to win the popular 3-point contest.

“It is hard to say what interest will be like with new formats/events,” said John Ewing from BetMGM. “I’d expect we still seeing strong betting given the lack of other options this weekend with football over.”