China, Philippines to Broadcast Knicks Games and Jeremy Lin: Will Betting Frenzy Heat Up

With the news that China and the Philippines are set to begin airing New York Knicks games this month, it will be interesting how this move impacts betting on the NBA.  *Live wagering will be offered on the Knicks vs. Lakers at Bookmaker.eu and some other Knicks games as well.  Check here.

Already, Gambling911.com receives significant NBA betting traffic originating from the Philippines and there has been a noticeable trend of late whereby Web surfers from China can now access the website.  Previously, Mainland China had made every effort to block gambling-related sites including those that were purely media/news-oriented. 

The move to air Knicks games comes in the wake of rising superstar, Chinese American Jeremy Lin, causing a huge sensation in the National Basketball League.

Forbes.com published an article Friday entitled “Jeremy Lin Gives The NBA An Assist”. 

From Forbes.com: 

A second-year man out of Harvard, a Californian of Chinese descent, Lin was an NBA afterthought splitting his time between the Development League and the end of the Warriors and Knicks benches since the fall of 2010. Then suddenly on February 4, guard-challenged New York took a shot and inserted him into the playing rotation. Lin responded with three straight games of at least 23 points and seven assists, leading the Knicks to victories in all three. Invisible a week ago, he’s now the toast of the town. Knick fans now see him as the guy who might salvage their season.

And while Internet access to gambling sites in Mainland China is still limited, online sportsbooks should get a boost from Philippines traffic where 7 Knicks games will be televised during the month of February. 

Knicks games accounted for four of Sina.com’s eight most popualr NBA video highlights while Lin’s Twitter followers went from 60,000 over the past week to 250,000.

- Tyrone Black, Gambling911.com