BetMGM fined $25k in New Jersey over prohibited bets mix-up
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement agrees settlement with operator after bets taken on college game
BetMGM has agreed to pay a $25,000 fine to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) after being found to have taken bets on prohibited college soccer games.
New Jersey state law prohibits betting on the state’s college teams, as well as any college game based in New Jersey, on integrity grounds even in the event teams featured are from other states.
DGE investigators found the US sportsbook operator had accepted bets on March 10 on a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament game between Niagara University and Marist College which took place on March 11.
It is understood the bets placed on the prohibited match amounted to less than $100.
While BetMGM received the fine, in discussions with the DGE it laid the blame for the errors on platform technology partner Entain, suggesting its automated geolocation process for the game in which the markets had been offered failed to register that it was in New Jersey.
The DGE has said Entain’s trading team failed to manually verify the location of the game, despite being required to consult a spreadsheet of fixtures and their respective locations.
It is also understood that an automated venue-checking system, which could have identified the location of the game, was not used because a copy of the program was not functioning at the time.
BetMGM confirmed the error in bets was found after 40 minutes, upon which time all bets placed were voided and all monies staked returned.
However, 10 days later BetMGM and its New Jersey partner Borgata were found to have offered a bettor a multi-game bet combination involving a college basketball game involving Rutgers University.
The DGE has confirmed the parlay market was created by an employee of Entain based in Australia who failed to recognize Rutgers as a New Jersey team, and thus was ineligible to be included in the market.
The multi-game bet combination was available on BetMGM’s sportsbook for an eight-hour period before it was removed, with only two bettors placing bets totaling just $30.
A referendum to change the law relating to college games was defeated at the ballot boxes by New Jersey voters in November 2021.
Bets on in-state college teams are also banned under state law in New York, South Dakota, Virginia, and Washington.