FanDuel Fined $10,000 for $11 in Prohibited Bets on Boston College

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has imposed a $10,000 fine on FanDuel for violating state betting regulations by accepting three wagers on Boston College’s men’s basketball team during the NCAA tournament, amounting to just $11 in total bets.

The incident occurred between March 9 and March 13, 2024, when FanDuel erroneously enabled futures betting on Boston College for the NCAA Men’s National Championship. State regulations allow betting on in-state college teams only when they are officially part of a tournament. However, the error occurred before Boston College had secured a spot in the championship event, as they had only qualified for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament.

The mistake, as reported by the Massachusetts Investigations and Enforcement Bureau (IEB), was manual. A FanDuel employee inadvertently lifted the NCAA tournament betting restriction while correctly enabling betting for the ACC tournament. FanDuel identified the error, voided the wagers, refunded customers, and promptly self-reported the incident to the MGC.

Boston College ultimately did not qualify for the NCAA tournament, competing instead in the National Invitation Tournament, where it was eliminated in the second round.

MGC’s Decision and Concerns About Penalty Proportionality

While the MGC unanimously approved the $10,000 fine, some commissioners expressed concerns over whether the penalty was proportionate to the severity of the violation. Commissioner Nakisha Skinner emphasized the need to consider the scope of future penalties, given that this particular incident involved only three wagers totaling $11.

Skinner stated, according to SBC Americas: “Even though the commission has set a high priority for statutory violations, I’d want to recognize that this was an incident that involved three wagers for a total of $11. I want to make sure that when we go forward, any recommendation that comes from the IEB we consider the severity of the circumstances.”

Calls to Revisit the Regulation

In addition to discussing the fine, Commissioner Brad Hill proposed revisiting the regulation prohibiting future bets on in-state college teams before their official inclusion in tournaments. Hill noted that in cases involving top-ranked teams, it is often clear they will qualify for events like March Madness, making the restriction potentially unnecessary.

MGC Chair Jordan Maynard agreed that the commission should evaluate whether the regulation should be adjusted. Any change would be limited to Massachusetts-based teams with high national rankings that make their tournament inclusion almost certain.

Under the current rules, Massachusetts bettors can only place futures wagers on out-of-state college teams for the NCAA tournament.

This case highlights the heightened scrutiny surrounding Massachusetts’ newly legalized sports betting industry. Earlier, Fanatics was fined $10,000 for improperly accepting a $50 wager on a Boston College football game, and DraftKings faced criticism for enabling credit card deposits in violation of state laws.