Massachusetts Fines MGM Springfield Again Over Illegal College Sports Betting Market
A betting market on a college baseball game stayed live for roughly two hours before anyone noticed. No bets were placed, but Massachusetts regulators still decided the mistake deserved a penalty.
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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission has approved a $25,000 fine against MGM Springfield after the casino’s sportsbook briefly offered wagering on an April 5, 2025 baseball matchup between Northeastern University and Campbell University.
Under Massachusetts law, betting on in-state college teams is generally prohibited unless those teams are competing in national tournaments. The Northeastern game did not qualify for an exception.
Regulators found that the market was available for about two hours before a gaming agent identified the error and removed it. Although no customers placed wagers on the game, commissioners concluded that the violation could not be overlooked simply because it was caught before any bets were accepted.
The commission’s enforcement division told regulators that MGM Springfield cooperated throughout the investigation and agreed to the proposed sanction. Commissioners ultimately voted unanimously, 5-0, to impose the fine.
The latest penalty adds to a growing record of similar compliance failures linked to MGM’s Massachusetts operations.
In 2024, MGM Springfield was fined after accepting bets on two college basketball games involving Northeastern University and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The company had also faced disciplinary action in 2023 over a comparable issue. During a previous review, regulators determined that sportsbook platform BetMGM had incorrectly classified Harvard University as being located in Connecticut, allowing prohibited betting markets to appear.
The commission addressed another sportsbook compliance case during the same meeting.
BetMGM was fined separately after accepting wagers on boxing events held in Saudi Arabia during 2025. Regulators said 79 bets were placed on those contests before the issue was identified.
Massachusetts regulators have shown little appetite for treating these incidents as harmless technical errors, even when betting activity is limited. The commission has repeatedly signaled that operators are expected to maintain accurate controls around restricted wagering markets, particularly when state college teams are involved.
The approach has been consistent across the industry. Last November, Fanatics received a $20,000 fine after accepting 83 wagers totaling $3,325 on a Boston College football game against Michigan State.
For the commission, the absence of customer harm or significant betting volume has not eliminated the expectation that licensed operators follow the state’s college wagering restrictions without exception.
Source: focusgn.com
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