In March, the University of Nebraska won a college basketball crown. And Tuesday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) revealed that Caesars Sportsbook and Wynn’s Encore Boston Harbor sportsbook took bets on a tournament that may have been prohibited by its rules.
The tournament involved 16 NCAA men’s college basketball teams, including Arizona State, Georgetown, and USC. So, what’s the rub?
According to the MGC’s sports betting rules, only college basketball tournaments sanctioned or governed by the NCAA are legal for betting. The College Basketball Crown, which held its debut tournament March 31-April 6, is not governed by the NCAA. The postseason tournament looks a lot like the 16-team National Invitational Tournament (NIT), which is sanctioned by the NCAA.
MGC commissioners were flummoxed by the violations, which were self-reported.
Commissioner Brad Hill asked why the tournament was disallowed for betting and Commissioner Paul Brodeur said it looked to him to be a lot like the postseason NIT or the holiday Maui Invitational, held in November.
And Chair Jordan Maynard asked, if the NCAA doesn’t sanction the event, who does?
The event is sponsored by FOX and Anschutz Entertainment, and was held in Las Vegas. According to an April House-Enterprise report, some sportsbooks began pulling College Basketball Crown markets from their platforms as the tournament was happening.
At the time, DraftKings Director of Sportsbook Johnny Avello told VSiN, “the jurisdictions I guess didn’t see this as one of the items we had on the menu for them to bet. It was college basketball, it just wasn’t something that was already approved.”
Operators offered markets in some legal jurisdictions, but not in others. But the MGC appears to be the first regulatory agency to take up a discussion about it. No decision was made Tuesday, but it seems from the discussion that the commission could ultimately decide to revamp its rules and allow betting on the College Basketball Crown going forward.
More than $60,000 in wagers taken
Nathan Kennedy on behalf of the Investigation Enforcement Bureau (IEB) explained that the rules are clear: Despite the teams being NCAA-member teams, the tournament itself does not appear to have the proper NCAA backing to make it legal to bet on.
Caesars Sportsbook took 1,039 wagers for $56,665.39 in handle on the tournament between March 23-31, while Wynn — which operates a retail sportsbook at its Boston Encore location, but does not have a digital platform — took 77 wagers for $5,199 in handle on it between March 30-31.
The agenda item was the first the commissioners had heard of the issue, which the IEB has been investigating, and the commission threw the violations back to the IEB for further investigation and a recommendation on the penalty.
But the discussion raised interesting points for one of the U.S.’ most stringent regulators.
Hill called the situation “unique” and wondered if the IEB might ultimately determine that the bets are legal. But Commissioner Nakisha Skinner said, “This was something that was identified as a non-compliance matter, and it should be treated as such.” She went on to say that the commission may “revisit the underlying issue” but clearly still felt that the sportsbooks should be punished.
FanDuel fined, Fanatics violation flagged
Caesars and Wynn weren’t the only operators on the IEB agenda. The unit also recommended fining FanDuel $15,000 for taking bets on the LPGA before it was legal to do so in Massachusetts. The commission agreed to the fine, but not before Skinner and Commissioner Eileen O’Brien questioned why the fine was less than a previous fine issued to FanDuel. The IEB’s Diandra Franks explained that the fine was in line with a similar fine on LPGA betting.
FanDuel took 7,155 wagers for $78,254.56 in handle on the LPGA between March 20, 2024-May 15, 2024 and June 4-6, 2024. According to the IEB report, FanDuel believed at the time that the LPGA was governed by the International Federation of PGA Tours, which are approved on the MGC bet menu.
The MGC ultimately legalized LPGA betting on June 6, 2024.
In addition, the IEB reported that Fanatics Sportsbooks took wagers on the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, a regional men’s professional basketball league comprised of 30 teams in the Philippines. The company took 13,045 bets for a total of $712,957.19 in handle between July 1, 2024-April 25, 2025. MGC staff discovered the violation, and the IEB will now review and recommend a penalty.
