MGM Springfield fined for bets on two college basketball games

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) has fined MGM Springfield for multiple violations involving sports wagering.

The illegal bets were accepted on wagers of college basketball games that involved Massachusetts schools that were not in a collegiate tournament. The wagers were allowed on the unauthorized events because BetMGM had previously incorrectly designated Harvard as being in Connecticut.

MGM Springfield offered wagers on February 3rd for the Harvard v. Yale men’s basketball game and on February 4th for, Harvard v. Brown men’s basketball game with a total of 28 tickets sold. The bets were placed at kiosks inside the casino, two winning tickets were redeemed at the sportsbook counter and two other winning tickets were redeemed at a kiosk.

According to MGC, upon hearing of potential noncompliance events at other Category 1 sports wagering operators, MGM asked their vendor, BetMGM, to review all sports bets placed at the Springfield casino since the launch of sports wagering in the Commonwealth.

Following a review, MGM Springfield informed the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s sports wagering division of the noncompliance incidents. As a result, MGM Springfield was issued a fine of $20,000. The error has since been corrected.

Plainridge Park Casino was fined $20,000 for accepting 33 wagers across 27 tickets on a February 2nd Merrimack College vs. Long Island University men’s regular season basketball game. According to MGC, the wager was available due to a backend data entry error where the location of Merrimack College was listed as being in Florida.

Encore Boston Harbor was fined $10,000 for accepting one sports wager on a February 2nd Boston College v. Notre Dame women’s regular season basketball game, an event in which wagering is not allowed. The ineligible bet was voided prior to the settlement of the ticket. According to MGC, bets were allowed on Boston College women’s basketball due to a system error where the team was known by two names on the wagering platform and only one of those names was included on a blacklist of teams upon which wagering is not allowed.