Latest Alleged Massachusetts Sports Betting Violation Causes ‘Frustration’ Among Commissioners

• The Massachusetts Gaming Commission discussed DraftKings’ alleged event-catalogue violation at its latest meeting
• DraftKings allowed bets on UTR Pro Series tennis events
• 864 bets accepted from March 10 through March 22

Commonwealth gaming commissioners shared their frustration with continued sports betting operator violations since launching Massachusetts sports betting earlier in the year.

The latest alleged violation to be heard by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) was a self-reported incident from DraftKings Sportsbook involving improper Massachusetts online sports bets being accepted for a non-approved tennis tour.

“I am frustrated and I’d like to make sure this practice doesn’t continue. We need to make sure that operators know that this is something the commission takes very seriously,” MGC Chair Cathy Judd-Stein said at the meeting.

The MGC agreed that DraftKings will go through an adjudicatory hearing for the alleged violations. DraftKings will be the first of the eight approved online operators to undergo an adjudicatory hearing.

First Online Sports Betting Operator Violation

DraftKings self-reported the incident to the MGC on March 23, 2023, when it became aware that it had allowed 864 bets on UTR Pro Series tennis events from March 10 through March 22. The UTR Pro Series is an unapproved event on the state’s sports betting event catalogue.

“The UTR Pro Series is a series of tennis tournaments with cash prizes. These tournaments are open to tennis players above a certain universal tennis rating, which is a ratings system that algorithmically generates a numerical assessment of players based upon their last 30 eligible matches over the proceeding 12 months. In addition to this rating, players must meet certain ranking requirements and be 14 years of age or older,” IEB Attorney Zachary Mercer said.

The DraftKings trading team copied tennis offerings from a different jurisdiction without verifying Massachusetts’ approval with their trading compliance team, Mercer said, which led to the event being offered on their platform in the commonwealth.

Mercer said 864 wagers for a total handle of $7,867 were taken in the time period. They were broken down as follows:

• 68 wagers on UTR Pro Series in Barcelona, Spain ($965.47)
• 22 wagers on UTR Pro Series in Newport Beach, California ($589.41)
• 774 wagers on UTA Pro Series in Tigre, Argentina ($6,312.12)

The wagers were voided. Any winnings were deducted from a players account, Mercer said, and any losing stakes were refunded.

Adjudicatory Hearing Up Next

The MGC did not issue a punishment or fine during the hearing. It decided DraftKings will go through its public adjudicatory hearing process for the self-reported violations.

“I get a little frustrated when I see, ‘Well, we just copied from someone else, and we didn’t check the book in Massachusetts.’ I don’t know whether that was benign neglect, or something else,” Commissioner Eileen O’Brien said.

The MGC considered letting the IEB handle the violation, but ultimately decided on holding the public hearing instead.