BetMGM fined $25,000 for prohibited college sports bets in New Jersey

BetMGM has been ordered to pay $25,000 for accepting bets on college sports in the state of New Jersey
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BetMGM has been ordered to pay $25,000 for accepting bets on college sports in the state of New Jersey, according to AP News.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement has fined the joint Entain-MGM venture for accepting wagers of less than $100 on two college sporting events.

The regulator stated that bets were accepted by BetMGM on March 10, 2021, involving a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament game between Niagara University and Marist College that was to be played in Atlantic City the next day.

The state’s gaming enforcement also added that the operator accepted bets on a Rutgers University game on March 20, 2021.

Betting on in-state college teams is prohibited by New Jersey state law, as well as on any collegiate game played in the Garden State, even if they feature teams from other states. If fans want to bet on their in-state college sports teams, they must travel out of state to do it.

BetMGM, which is liable for the fine, apportioned blame on Entain for initiating a series of errors that led to the bets being improperly offered.

In the case of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament wagers, BetMGM told the regulator that Entain usually begins the betting market creation process, which includes checking the location of games.

Entain failed to notice the game was being played in New Jersey, with the enforcement division adding that its trading operations division didn’t recognize the error despite it being required to manually verify the location of the game.

Both BetMGM and Entain employ an automated venue checking system, but the regulator added it was not used at the time as a copy of the program was not working.

The error wasn’t noticed by BetMGM’s trading team until 40 minutes after they had initially been offered. The team voided the bets and gave patrons who placed the wagers their money back.

For the Rutgers University game bet, a pre-made parlay involving a Rutgers basketball game was offered on the BetMGM and Borgata websites. The enforcement division said the parlay was created by an Australia-based Entain employee who failed to recognize Rutgers as a New Jersey team.

The offer was available for eight hours before BetMGM noticed the error and took it down, with only two people taking the bet for a total of $30.