Fanatics Sportsbook and ZenSports have less cash on hand after being levied a series of fines by the Tennessee Sports Wagering Council.
The sports betting and fantasy regulator unanimously voted to hand Fanatics a $50,000 fine for violating Tennessee gaming rules regarding self-exclusion lists. Fanatics, which self-reported its violations, allowed eight registered account holders on a self-exclusion list to place wagers with the sportsbook. Fanatics attributed the error to its takeover of PointsBet’s U.S. operations. The operator was fined $6,250 for each Level 2 violation.
Fanatics was proactive by refunding losses from the accounts that placed the wagers. The recent violations marked the second time Fanatics has been fined over self-exclusion lists.
“We appreciate your honesty but please don’t appear on our agenda again for the same issue,” chairman William Orgel told a Fanatics rep during a meeting last month.
ZenSports lost its balance
KeyStar, which conducts business in Tennessee as ZenSports, was fined $60,000 by the council for not having enough cash in its reserve account to cover debts and obligations.
ZenSports believes the violation was sparked by a calculation error by its accounting team. The council found evidence of an improper balance for ZenSports on three separate days last December with the brand not reporting the deficiencies within 24 hours as required.
ZenSports took action to fix its balance after council members pointed out the issue.
A problem of the past
ZenSports is taking steps to prevent the issue from happening again. It bolstered its accounting team with new members who are responsible for manually reviewing finances.
“Regrettably, we didn’t have that in place. We reinvested more into that area and we’re incredibly confident it will not happen again,” ZenSports Chief Compliance Officer Eddie Ponce told council members. “I can assure you will not be seeing us again on this issue.”
Tennessee, which authorized sports betting in 2020, is home to 12 online sportsbooks. Fanatics soft launched in the state in May 2023 while ZenSports debuted a month later.
