Bets on Belarusian Soccer Draws Ire From Massachusetts Regulators

• The Massachusetts Gaming Commission discussed three matters of noncompliance from licensed operators accepting bets on prohibited soccer matches
• FanDuel and Fanatics Sportsbook both accepted a number of bets on Belarusian soccer
• Massachusetts prohibits all bets on events involving, or commissioned, by Belarus or Russian entities

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Two licensed Massachusetts sports betting operators may find themselves in some hot water after accepting hundreds of bets on prohibited soccer matches.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) discussed three noncompliance incidents involving FanDuel and Fanatics Sportsbook, as both licensed online sports betting operators accepted improper bets on Belarusian national soccer teams.

The commonwealth’s sports betting catalogue prohibits “wagers on any event or league overseen by a Russian or Belarusian governing body or body headquartered in Russia or Belarus.”

No Go on Belarus or Russia Events

Nathaniel Kennedy, counsel for the Investigations and Enforcement Bureau (IEB), informed the members of the MGC that both Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel accepted a number of sports bets on the prohibited national soccer team.

Fanatics Sportsbook accepted 127 bets for a total of $968.13 from Sept. 13, 2023, through March 22, 2024. The incident, Kennedy said, was not self-reported but discovered by the sports wagering division on July 3, 2024. At the time of the discovery, the sports wagering division reminded the state’s licensed sports betting operators that bets on Belarus or Russian teams were not permissible.

A Fanatics Sportsbook representative informed the IEB that its trading compliance team accidentally turned on an “auto-authorize setting” that allowed European Champions qualification matches to be offered, even though Belarus was competing in the event.

The members of the MGC agreed to send the incident back to the IEB for a recommendation on how to proceed.

The FanDuel incidents, however, drew more scrutiny from the commissioners.

FanDuel Confused Over Prohibition

The first incident discovered by the sports betting bureau involving FanDuel, Kennedy reported, saw the sports betting operator accept 3,871 bets on the Belarusian national soccer team for a total stake of $11,792 from March 20, 2023, through March 26, 2024.

Upon being notified of the impermissible wagers, FanDuel did a complete audit of its systems and found it did so again from July 16, 2024, through July 18, 2024, accepting 178 bets for a total stake of $5,829.

The sportsbook reported that it misinterpreted the gaming commission’s prohibition.

“At the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Flutter, the parent company of FanDuel, decided to cease offering Belarusian content across all brands. However, major governing bodies, including UEFA, banned Russia from competing while permitting Belarus to compete and maintain membership rights. This caused confusion and led FanDuel to mistakenly believe that wagering on Belarusian national teams were permissible in matches taking place outside of banned countries, Russia and Belarus,” Kennedy said.

Commissioner Eileen O’Brien said the gaming commission’s prohibition is very clear.

“To me, they didn’t address the fact that we have a prohibition on this, flat out. They may have this other thing over here, but we said don’t do it pretty clearly. For me, I want further clarification on that. That would seem that someone is not reading our event catalogue properly, and that’s a different situation for me,” she said.

The MGC agreed to send both incidents back to the IEB for a recommendation on how to move forward.

The operators will likely face an adjudicatory fine for their actions.