An NBA reporter got into some trouble during the NBA Draft on June 22 when he tweeted about a draft pick and it swung the odds. The move triggered calls for a conflict of interest, since one of his employers is FanDuel.
Shams Charania, who writes for the Athletic and Stadium but is also a “FanDuel Partner,” sent out a tweet before the draft about Scoot Henderson, a guard who was projected to be picked third overall by the Portland Trail Blazers.
He said the high-flying G-League player was “gaining serious momentum at No. 2 with the Charlotte Hornets.”
Alabama’s Brandon Miller was the consensus No. 2 pick before Charania’s “scoop.” His odds to be selected second by the Charlotte Hornets were -650. Henderson was listed at +800.
But after Charania’s tweet, the odds flipped as money came in fast and furious on Henderson. He became the favorite to be picked No. 2 at -900 and Miller went to +480, a gigantic swing.
Turns out Charania was wrong and Miller went No. 2 after all, but the damage had been done. Twitter lit up with criticism about Charnia, saying he shouldn’t be allowed to influence the odds for the NBA Draft.
FanDuel denied any wrongdoing and told Action Network that it had no knowledge about what Charania writes.
“FanDuel is not privy to any news that Shams breaks on his platforms,” a FanDuel spokesman said on June 23.
Charania is not the only NBA insider with the potential to cause such a stir. Adrian Wojnarowski, a longtime reporter for ESPN, is also known for his breaking snippets of NBA news, which fans affectionately call “Woj bombs.” He said from the start, however, that Miller was going to be the No. 2 pick.
“All along, the entire Charlotte Hornets organization has been all-in on Brandon Miller — ownership, front office, scouts, coaches,” Wojnarowski tweeted. “They see him as a perennial future All-Star player.”
Charania hasn’t commented on the controversy.
The question remains, however, if it is possible for influencers to affect high-dollar betting lines, especially if they work for a sports betting company. Many have wondered, should they be allowed to report on such events like the NBA or NFL Draft? Those two markets see a significant handle.
Could sportsbooks be forced to pull draft day odds off the board altogether? Betting on drafts isn’t allowed in New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
“I’d be a little surprised if sportsbooks stop taking draft bets,” Chris Grove, co-founding partner of sports betting-focused Acies Investments, told Front Office Sports. “Any event where the outcome is known in advance is always going to be something that books and regulators approach cautiously.”
But one thing that could come out of this controversy is that sportsbooks could be forced to disclose partnerships, like the one between FanDuel and Charania.
West Virginia House minority whip Shawn Fluharty, who is set to become the next president of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS), told Legal Sports Report that the Charania-FanDuel relationship is troubling.
“I’m not saying FanDuel had any unclean hands here. But if they wanted to, they certainly could. That’s because there is no regulatory boundary in place,” Fluharty said. “… This is kind of the forecast of what’s next in the regulatory and legislative realm. And it shines a light on something we’ve been talking about for months. You just needed a clear example, and this is a clear example.”
Fluharty said West Virginia had a bill that would require sportsbooks to disclose relationships with influencers. It passed the House but failed to get out of the Senate.
“I think really what the Shams thing did was it blurred the lines of influencer and reporter,” Fluharty told LSR.. “ … It used to be, in Las Vegas, the public drove the lines. Now, the sportsbooks are driving the lines 100%. They have the ability to do that now. Because they can influence the public using their own people.”
