As the sports betting landscape continues to become increasingly competitive amongst retailers, Fanatics Sportsbook is making a major play to entice NBA bettors.
Key Takeaways
- Fanatics Sportsbook has expanded its Fair Play injury insurance policy to cover the first half of all NBA regular-season games.
- Since its debut during the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Fair Play has refunded more than $17 million in wagers.
- 1 in 5 new customers cite it as a reason for switching to Fanatics.
Ahead of the NBA’s opening night tip-off Tuesday, Fanatics announced the expansion of its Fair Play injury insurance policy to cover the first half of NBA games. The policy had previously only covered the first quarter.
“This update gives customers the most comprehensive bet protection in the sports betting industry,” the Fanatics Sportsbook said in a release. “After debuting during the 2025 NBA playoffs, saving parlays impacted by player injuries, Fair Play has already refunded more than $17 million in wagers, with one in five new customers citing it as their reason for switching to Fanatics.”
The move will cover every NBA regular-season game during the 2025-26 season, which tipped off with the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder defeating the Houston Rockets, headlined by their new superstar and former Thunder forward Kevin Durant, in double overtime.
Sportsbooks making a habit of customer-first decisions
The move by Fanatics in an effort to differentiate themselves from competitors is the latest in a slew of moves this year by sportsbooks as they move to encourage more regular bettors to move their business over.
ESPN BET recently introduced a similar policy back in September for the NFL season, specifically relating to player props, while books like DraftKings and Fanatics gave customers millions in refunds just last week following a second-quarter injury to Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie Emeka Egbuka.
Fanatics, meanwhile, had already made the move to cover first-half games in the postseason back in April, but hadn’t officially made the call on doing so for the regular season. The decision ultimately led to the book returning more than $2 million by the end of the second round alone.
