BetMGM Facing Additional Massachusetts Sports Betting Noncompliance Issues

A recent audit of BetMGM’s sports betting market by Gaming Labs International (GLI) revealed a number of new noncompliance issues in Massachusetts. An Investigations and Enforcement Bureau (IEB) spokesperson detailed preliminary results of the ongoing audit to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) on Thursday.

BetMGM accepted more than 15,000 college football player prop bets, wagers on Belarusian sports leagues in Massachusetts

The IEB said BetMGM accepted a number of prohibited player prop bets on NCAA football, player props on men and women’s college basketball, and on banned Belarusian sports leagues. The MGC will discuss these noncompliance issues during a future adjudicatory hearing with the online sports betting operator.

The initial incidents were reported to the MGC this past February. According to the IEB’s investigation findings, BetMGM accepted more than 15,000 prohibited college football player prop bets in the Commonwealth throughout the season. Handle for those bets exceeded more than $200,000.

Furthermore, BetMGM accepted several bets on whether or not penalty cards would be issued in a soccer match. The incidents were not self-reported by BetMGM to the MGC. A member of the commission’s sports wagering team identified the improper bets and reported them to the commission.

In response, BetMGM hired Gaming Labs International to conduct an audit of their gaming markets. The audit was meant to double-check that no other illegal markets were being offered to in-state gamblers.

Sportsbook self-reported noncompliance incidents in the audit

According to multiple reports, the audit is still ongoing. However, it was found in the preliminary results that BetMGM had been offering several other prohibited markets in Massachusetts.

BetMGM self-reported the following noncompliance incidents that were listed in the audit:

• 41 more NCAA football player props from the last season, raising the total to 15,428 bets
• 13 player prop bets on two NCAA basketball games in the NIT for a total of $469.10
• 12 player prop bets on the NCAA women’s Elite Eight for a total of $208.34
• 106 bets on Glory Kickboxing, a prohibited sports league
• Accepting prohibited bets on Belarusian sports leagues

In addition to these new incidents, the original NCAA football player props from earlier in the year will be discussed by the MGC at a future adjudicatory hearing for BetMGM.