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Three wagers totaling $11 will cost FanDuel $10,000, after the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) approved a staff recommendation to fine the company for accepting the improper futures bets on an in-state college team.

Zachary Mercer, enforcement counsel with the MGC’s Investigations and Enforcement Bureau (IEB), told commissioners on Thursday (December 5) that FanDuel accepted three wagers between March 9 and March 13, 2024 on Boston College’s men’s basketball team’s performance in the NCAA Men’s National Championship tournament.

The three futures bets were made while the Boston College Eagles were participating in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament.

Massachusetts sports-betting regulations prohibit any wagers on in-state colleges or universities, unless they are participating in a tournament.

That ban is only supposed to be lifted once a team has been officially named to the tournament field, according to state gaming regulations.

Mercer confirmed that the incident was human error and not related to FanDuel’s software. The company self-reported the three bets to the commission and the matter was initially referred back to the IEB in June for further review and potential action.

“When FanDuel was lifting the prohibition on Boston College wagers for the ACC tournament it also inadvertently lifted the prohibition on NCAA tournament wagers at the same time,” Mercer said.

While the five-member commission unanimously approved the fine, commissioner Nakisha Skinner asked whether regulators had set $10,000 as the floor and maybe they need to consider the severity of infractions when deciding on penalties.

“I take no issue with what you have recommended at all,” Skinner told Mercer. “Even though the commission has set a high priority for statutory violations, I do want to recognize that this was an incident that involved three wagers for a total of $11.”

Skinner suggested that as the MGC moves forward “with any recommendation that comes from the IEB, that we consider the degree of the violation as we are recommending penalties for any additional non-compliance events that are of similar nature”.

“The penalty [should be] proportionate to the actual circumstances of the non-compliance incident,” Skinner added.

The commission previously fined Fanatics Sportsbook $10,000 for taking a bet on an in-state college football game. In that case, the IEB had recommended the penalty as punishment for accepting a $50 futures bet on the Fenway Bowl played between Boston College and Southern Methodist University.

Three days after the wager was placed, Fanatics noticed the error, canceled the wager and refunded the customer's money. The single bet was placed well in advance of the December 28 football game.

After the fine for FanDuel was approved Thursday, commissioner Brad Hill asked if the MGC's sports wagering division and legal department would take a look at the regulation that FanDuel violated.

“I have been able to bet on a futures bet when I know the team is going to be in that tournament under our Massachusetts General Law,” Hill said. “I would ask that we look at the regulation and see how specific it truly is because I can see where somebody would have made a mistake on this.”

MGC chairman Jordan Maynard agreed that the commission should discuss the regulation at a future date.

“It’s difficult implementing the regulation when its comes to the tournament, because tournaments are an exception to the rule that we cannot bet on college sports,” Maynard said. “So, the question is, where is the line drawn to when you can do futures bets on a tournament?”

“And do we have it drawn now and when do we want it drawn?” the chairman said.

Boston College did not make the NCAA tournament, instead playing in the National Invitation Tournament before being eliminated by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas 79-70 in the second round on March 25.