Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Enforcement Noncompliance topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Commission refers multiple noncompliance matters — Caesars, MGM and BetMGM incidents — to IAB for review
Summary
The Commission received initial briefings on several noncompliance matters: Caesars offered wagering on an unapproved boxing match (wagers were voided and stakes returned), MGM Springfield offered a Heisman-winner wager (voided), and BetMGM had two separate contacts with voluntary self-exclusion enrollees (one email, one physical mailer). Commissioners favored referring these matters to the IAB for further investigation and remedial emphasis.
The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on July 28 received initial briefings on five new noncompliance matters and directed enforcement staff to pursue follow-up investigation.
Enforcement counsel Deondra Franks described an incident involving Caesars Sportsbook offering wagering on an unapproved boxing match scheduled for May 30, 2026. Counsel said the offering ran from April 30 through May 4, 2026, that three wagers were accepted for a reported total stake of 3,769, and that "the offering was taken down before the match occurred and all wagers were voided, and the stake was returned to the patron accounts," Franks said. Commissioners indicated a preference to refer the matter to the IAB for additional investigation rather than immediate sanctioning.
The Commission also heard that Blue Tarp Redevelopment LLC, doing business as MGM Springfield, briefly offered a Heisman-Trophy-related wager (April 26–May 11, 2026); that offering was discovered in a routine audit, involved one wager for a total stake of $28, and was taken down with wagers voided and stakes returned.
IAB representative Nathaniel Kennedy briefed two separate BetMGM incidents: an April 22, 2026 email that reached two individuals enrolled in the voluntary self-exclusion program, and a November 2025 physical mailer advertising Borgata that also reached two VSE enrollees. Kennedy described differing root causes: the email incident occurred when an automated-marketing platform’s manual on/off toggle was defaulted to "on" and a customer-relations manager inadvertently turned it off, while the physical mailer failed because the manual extraction/scrubbing process did not run through the same automated system. Commissioners supported referral to the IAB and asked staff to emphasize remedial measures and proportional sanctions given the small scale of contacts.
No adjudicatory hearings or penalties were adopted at this meeting; commissioners consistently directed further IAB review and asked staff to report findings and any proposed sanctions back to the Commission.
