What an NBA odds API returns in play
An NBA odds API returns the basketball event with the markets your board displays. The event supplies the teams, score, game clock and quarter. Each selection carries a decimal price and implied probability, and each market carries its margin and an open or suspended state. Keep that state next to the price, because it tells your application whether the market accepts bets right now.
- Winner is the game outcome market, exposed as moneyline.
- next_possession_scores asks whether a named side scores on its next trip.
- three_next_60s asks whether a three-pointer is made in the next 60 seconds.
- points_next_2_min is an over or under on points scored in the next two minutes.
Use GET /api/v1/events?sport=basketball&status=live to find games in play. Open /api/v1/stream?event={event_id} for streaming push of the full market set once a second. REST builds the first screen, and streaming carries every later price and market state without repeated polling.
Starter includes winner prices. Growth and Enterprise add the possession and window markets through the same interface. The live odds API overview and the API documentation show the shared request and response structure.
How the possession model prices basketball
RealTimeBets counts a basketball game in possessions, not minutes. For each side the model estimates how many possessions remain at the current pace and how many points each possession is worth, given shooting and free throws. Multiplying the two gives expected points still to come. Adding the current score produces a distribution of final margins, and the winner price comes from that picture.
Runs matter more than single baskets. Eight or ten unanswered points move the price far more than one made shot, and a made three moves the margin faster than a two. Late in the fourth quarter fewer possessions remain, so a six point lead is worth much more than it was at halftime.
The engine does not model fouls, the bonus, substitutions or player usage. It prices the score, the possessions left and expected points per trip. Product teams that plan player props or lineup-driven prices should treat those as outside this feed.
Prices are recomputed every second, including between scores. The probabilities come from the RealTimeBets model. They are not a consensus of US bookmakers and not a copy of any sportsbook line.
Possession and short-window micro-markets for basketball
Baskets come so often that basketball micro-markets are short. The next possession market opens before a trip begins, locks when it starts and settles when it ends. The three-pointer market covers a fixed 60 second window and resolves yes at the first made three, or no when the window closes. The points market covers two minutes and settles over or under a published line.
Every market follows the event timeline and carries a lock time. Your application should retain the market key and the lock rather than identify a bet by its label, since the same label repeats on every possession.
Short markets suit an in-play board that refreshes constantly. They also raise the number of bets per game for a licensed operator, so the settlement flow has to be reliable. Webhooks are signed, and each delivery has an identifier you can check before paying out.
The micro betting generator handles opening, pricing, suspension and resolution. Inspect those transitions in the sandbox before connecting the markets to a production bet slip.
| Provider | Published price | Trial or key | Source of prices | Push for live | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RealTimeBets | From $499/mo ($249/mo yearly) | Sandbox key at signup, 60 s delay | Own possession model, every second | Yes, every plan | In-play winner, possession micro-markets, settlement |
| The Odds API | $30 to $249/mo | 500 free credits a month | Aggregated bookmaker lines | No, polling | Pre-match NBA lines on a budget |
| SportsGameOdds | $99 to $299/mo, All-Star custom | Free Amateur tier | Aggregated, 80+ bookmakers | WebSocket on All-Star only | Props and quarter markets |
| odds-api.io | £49 to £229/mo, WebSocket costs the plan price again | New free keys paused | Aggregated, 415+ bookmakers | Yes, paid add-on | Many books per plan |
| OpticOdds | Not published, via sales | Via sales after a demo | Aggregated, 200+ sportsbooks | Yes | Odds screens, props, trading desks |
Suspension, risk and settlement during game night
A made basket suspends affected micro-markets for about three seconds, then prices return after repricing. That is short because baskets are frequent, so your front end should follow the published state rather than a timer of its own. Your acceptance service should confirm the market is still open before it confirms a bet.
Growth includes the risk engine with liability per market, a stake cap per customer and a sharp flag that halves limits. Send a proposed bet for a risk check, receive accepted, reduced or rejected, then record accepted bets so they count toward liability and can settle. These controls support your trading policy. You remain responsible for the markets and customers your state license permits.
Settlement uses HMAC SHA-256 signed webhooks. A bet.settled delivery identifies the recorded bet and its result. Verify the signature over the timestamp and raw body with your endpoint secret, and check the delivery identifier before applying a wallet transaction, so duplicate deliveries never pay twice.
Your platform keeps customer accounts and the wallet. RealTimeBets supplies prices, market state and settlement messages. The sportsbook API page describes the flow, and the risk engine page covers the trading controls.
NBA odds API pricing and plans
Choose a plan for the markets and operating tools your product needs. REST and streaming push are included on every plan. The pricing page lists monthly and yearly billing.
- Starter costs $499/mo or $249/mo billed yearly. It includes live odds REST and streaming push for 3 sports, winner prices, an event data feed, 500,000 requests, 2 streaming connections, widgets and signed settlement webhooks.
- Growth costs $1,999/mo or $999/mo billed yearly. It includes every sport and CS2, the micro-market generator with automatic suspension, the risk engine, model pricing with your margin, 5,000,000 requests and 10 streaming connections.
- Enterprise costs $4,999/mo or $2,499/mo billed yearly. It adds a white label front on your domain, wallet integration, cash out, SSO, an audit log and a 99.95% uptime SLA.
A sandbox key is issued at signup. It covers 1 sport with a 60 s delay and 1,000 requests over 7 days. Payloads carry "sandbox": true. Use it to check parsing, stream updates, lock times and settlement handling before switching to live production traffic.
Production keys require a paid plan and a stored license number, regulator and country. Affiliates and odds or media sites follow the same production access path. Sandbox access does not require a gambling license.
When you need an NBA odds aggregator instead
If your product shows DraftKings, FanDuel or BetMGM lines, buy an aggregator that carries those books. The same goes for spreads, totals, player props, quarter lines and historical NBA odds. RealTimeBets supplies modeled winner and possession markets. It does not supply those books' prices or their recorded line history.
The Odds API, SportsGameOdds, OpticOdds and odds-api.io are aggregator options. Confirm the exact sportsbooks, NBA markets, history and display rights in the package you pick, and check whether live push is included, an add-on or limited to one plan. A large bookmaker count does not prove your required player prop is covered.
Read The Odds API alternatives, OpticOdds pricing and the SportsGameOdds alternative guide when preparing that comparison. The table below separates the source of prices from the delivery method, next to published costs.
Engine games currently include replays of fictional teams tagged Replay. Games from the licensed data feed are tagged Live. NBA is a trademark of its owner. RealTimeBets uses it only as the phrase buyers search and claims no official league data or partnership.