Massachusetts Slaps $50K in Fines on Sportsbooks for Betting Blunders

A Costly Crackdown

Massachusetts’ sports betting scene took a hit when the Gaming Commission (MGC) dropped $50,000 in fines on four big-name operators: BetMGM, Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel, and PENN Sports Interactive, for breaking state rules.

The penalties, recommended by the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau (IEB), targeted slip-ups like illegal bets on Belarusian soccer and marketing to self-excluded players.

FanDuel got the heaviest slap, paying $20,000 for accepting 3,871 bets on Belarusian national soccer teams from March 2023 to March 2024, worth $11,792, plus 178 more bets in July 2024 for $5,829. The operator blamed a “misinterpretation” of Massachusetts’ ban on Belarusian and Russian teams.

BetMGM coughed up $10,000 for 1,934 bets on LPGA events, totaling $1,642.46, placed before the league was approved for wagering.

Fanatics Sportsbook also paid $10,000 for 127 bets on Belarusian soccer during Euro qualifiers from September 2023 to March 2024, with a $968.13 stake, discovered by the MGC’s sports betting unit in July 2024.

PENN Sports Interactive, running ESPN Bet, faced a $10,000 fine for mistakenly sending promotional materials to eight self-excluded individuals.

Commissioner Eileen O’Brien pushed for a $20,000 or $25,000 penalty, saying the incident “does not sit well with me,” but the MGC stuck with IEB’s $10,000 recommendation. “This was not a good use of our time today,” Commissioner Nakisha Skinner noted in a separate MGC meeting, reflecting frustration with operator compliance, per The Athletic.

More Trouble Brewing

The MGC didn’t stop at fines. It flagged two new violations for further IEB review. Fanatics accepted 36 Heisman Trophy futures bets from January to March 2025, worth $545.70, a no-go in Massachusetts’ ban on college player markets.

DraftKings took 89 bets on an NCAA basketball player’s points props, totaling $1,655, also prohibited. These cases, sent back for evaluation, signal the MGC’s hawk-eyed oversight, especially on college betting, which bars in-state team wagers unless in multi-team tournaments.

Massachusetts’ Tough Rules

Massachusetts runs one of the tightest sports betting ships in the U.S., with seven online sportsbooks: BetMGM, FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, Fanatics, ESPN Bet, and Bally Bet, under a 20% tax rate.

The state’s $67.6 million in April revenue shows its market’s juice, but operators face steep compliance demands. Past fines include $40,000 on Encore Boston Harbor for in-state college bets and $20,000 each on Plainridge Park and MGM Springfield.