With the NBA play-offs beginning on Saturday – and punters carefully assessing their basketball betting options – what better time to take a look back at the history of America’s favourite court game?

Since its creation in 1891, basketball has become a sporting phenomenon. Long considered to be a purely American pastime, the game is now played the world-over and enjoys a massive global following. So why has the sport become so popular? Let’s take a look at some of the factors that have helped basketball capture the imagination of so many.

Basketball has always been popular in the United States, closely following American Football and baseball in terms of television audiences. The National Basketball Association, which was founded in 1949, is considered to be the most prestigious professional league in the world with many of its players among the highest paid athletes on the planet. Many have become household names, such as Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and more recently Kobe Bryant.

US television networks such as ESPN, TNT and ABC offer almost blanket coverage of NBA games with matches beamed into millions of homes. In the past, these networks often syndicated coverage to foreign television companies. However, in the last ten to fifteen years, international networks have begun to offer their own - this year’s NBA finals have attracted more than 90 television outlets and networks. So TV coverage of the NBA has been extremely important in raising awareness of the sport both in the US and beyond its shores.

The Olympics have also been a major contributor to basketball’s popularity. Although originally restricted to amateur athletes, in 1989 the International Basketball Federation ruled that professionals could compete in international tournaments such as the Olympic Games. As a result, the 1992 US Olympic team featured stars like Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Larry Byrd and Magic Johnson. Unsurprisingly the US team dominated, winning games by an average of 44 points. In the process, the ‘Dream Team’, as it became known, wowed audiences with its skill and speed and brought professional basketball to a wider audience for the first time.

The growth of basketball also owes a great deal to the work of NBA players and coaches, who travel around the world during their offseason to attend basketball clinics and community events. The willingness to bring the game to foreign audiences has gone a long way in furthering the game’s reach. And is seems that the surge of interest in the game is showing no signs of abating as fourteen new international television networks aired The 2013 NBA Finals for the very first time: Cameroon, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa and Turkey.

Basketball is also becoming popular in the UK with increasing numbers of people taking it up at both University and club level. The sport enjoyed a surge in popularity in the aftermath of the London Olympics with clubs reporting a 27 per cent increase in attendances. And despite the disappointment of having its Olympic funding cut, the British Basketball League continues to work at grass-roots levels to promote the game.

Betting on basketball

Many of the expected fixed odds markets can be found, such as match odds, handicap prices and total points over/under selections.

However basketball spread betting can be really where the action comes alive. Here you can bet in-play on a constantly updated spread for either Total Match Points, Team Points or Points per quarter as well as playing the Supremacy spread.

The Supremacy spread is a spread put out by the spread betting firms based on how many points they think one basketball team will beat another. If you disagree with the prediction you can either buy or sell depending on your opinion.

The more accurate your prediction then potentially the more profitable your bet can be. However, remember that with basketball spread betting you can lose more than your initial stake should the bet go against you – unlike placing fixed odds bets on basketball.

Be sure to view the Spreadex site during the NBA playoffs to get an idea of how exciting spread betting on basketball can be.