Massachusetts Regulators Want to Hear From FanDuel Regarding Bill Simmons Proxy Betting Incident, Door Not Closed on Potential Action

• The Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously agreed to hold an adjudicatory hearing for FanDuel regarding a recent Bill Simmons proxy betting incident
• The popular sports media personality admitted over the summer to engaging in proxy betting by sharing his FanDuel account with an associate in Massachusetts
• The associated placed 22 bets on the FanDuel platform using Simmons’ account for a total of $21,800

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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is requesting FanDuel appear for an adjudicatory hearing regarding Bill Simmons, the popular sports media figure for The Ringer, for a proxy betting incident in the Commonwealth he spoke openly about during an August episode of his national podcast.

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission unanimously agreed to hold an adjudicatory hearing for FanDuel regarding the proxy betting incident, in which Simmons, who lives in California, convinced an associate to place several bets in Massachusetts using his account. When asked by MGC Commissioner Paul Brodeur if it was “fair to say” that the commission is still considering action being taken against Simmons or his associate who placed the bets, a representative for the Investigatory Enforcement Bureau (IEB) said all options are still on the table.

“The IEB hasn’t foreclosed any kind of condition here going forward. Obviously, we’ll be digging in on all facets of this and making determinations as the facts guide us. We’ve conducted a preliminary review and understand the facts as we have them at this point,” Zachary Mercer, senior enforcement counsel for the IEB, said during the meeting.

Simmons Admitted to Proxy Betting

According to the MGC, a proxy for Simmons placed 22 bets in Massachusetts using his account for a total of $21,800. The bets were placed on Aug. 5, 2026, Aug. 7, 2026, and August. 19, 2026, according to MGC documents.

Simmons, founder of The Ringer, discussed an in-depth incident of proxy betting on his podcast over the summer in which his daughter’s boyfriend accessed his Massachusetts FanDuel account and placed the bets in his name under his direction. Simmons currently lives in California, where sports betting is illegal.

Simmons addressed the issue a podcast episode, noting he was not aware of the proxy betting rules. FanDuel voided the proxy bets and “actioned” his Massachusetts account.

“I talked about how I got my daughter’s boyfriend to place some bets for me in Massachusetts, because I was in LA. Did not know about the proxy rules, yeah. There are some real rules for this stuff. Not only are the bets going to be voided, but I learned my lesson. Apparently proxy betting is not allowed, I actually thought it was, but that’s fine. And now my daughter has to break up with her boyfriend, that was the other thing. I’m kidding, they’re going to stay together, but I did learn. Not allowed to do that. All those bets went out the window. All that special time I had with Hank, out the window as well. The good news is I’m going to be in Boston and maybe at some point I’ll make some more wagers down the road. So, there ya go. Lesson learned,” he said.

Simmons described the incident in which he contacted his daughter’s boyfriend to have him access his FanDuel account, which is registered in Massachusetts, to place several futures bets for him while he was in Los Angeles.

“I can’t have my daughter do it. My dad would have no idea how to do it. But I trust Hank. I let Hank log into my FanDuel as me. I get the code to make sure it’s me to my phone and I give him the code. He logs in, and I have all this money that I had from last year, because I actually hit a bunch of futures last year. He’s putting in bets for me and honestly it was the closest I’ve ever felt to Hank. Was a real bonding moment for us. The next week I called him up and we ran it back. We did some more,” Simmons said in the podcast episode.

FanDuel describes in its house rules and terms and conditions that users can only use their accounts for “personal use.” Additionally, Massachusetts sports betting regulations firmly prohibit proxy betting, in which another individual places a wager on someone else’s behalf.

FanDuel voided the bets and reported the issue to the MGC.

Adjudicatory Hearing Called For Incident

FanDuel will appear before the MGC for an adjudicatory hearing to discuss the incident and proxy betting at large.

“One of the huge issues we have, that we believe we have, especially with youth and college age people betting, has to do with proxy betting. I’ve been a little disturbed by the lack of full appreciation in general to the fact that it’s illegal. Not singling someone out, but this is the first one we’ve had openly referred to us as possibility. It’s an opportunity for an operator to do a deeper dive into proxy betting,” Commissioner Eileen O’Brien said.

MGC Chairman Jordan Maynard agreed, saying he wanted to hear more information on how FanDuel handled the incident after it became public.

“I’m more interested in how the operator let something like this happen and the actions they took after it was public,” he said.