The Massachusetts Gaming Commission fined MGM Springfield $25,000 in June after it offered wagers for a 2025 Northeastern baseball game, violating Massachusetts sports betting rules.
The Springfield casino listed the odds for the April 5, 2025, matchup between Northeastern and Campbell University for approximately two hours before regulators flagged it on the market, according to an investigation recently completed by the commission. No wagers on the Northeastern game were accepted, the commission’s enforcement counsel told The Boston Globe June 23.
Massachusetts law bars sportsbooks, a company or platform that accepts sports bets and sets odds for the bets, from accepting wagers on games involving in-state colleges unless they are part of a tournament featuring at least four teams. The law is intended to protect student-athletes from harassment and reduce integrity risks such as cheating or foul play.
The casino did not respond to requests for comment from The Huntington News. Beth Ward, MGM Springfield’s director of public affairs, told MassLive that the MGM doesn’t comment on regulatory actions.
Regulators said that MGM Springfield cooperated throughout the investigation. The commission unanimously approved the $25,000 civil penalty in a 5-0 vote, MassLive reported.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker legalized sports betting in 2022 following a drawn-out legal decision involving the Massachusetts Supreme Court. The state government ultimately decided that sports betting would continue regardless of legalization.
The fine continues the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s, or MGC’s, enforcement of the state’s in-state college betting ban. In 2023, Plainridge Park Casino received a $20,000 fine for accepting bets on a college basketball game between Merrimack College and Long Island University. The MGC also fined MGM Springfield $20,000 for posting bets on Harvard University’s men’s basketball games, and Encore Boston Harbor $10,000 for posting betting odds on a Boston College women’s basketball game.
