Massachusetts Gaming Commission investigating Bill Simmons proxy bets

The Massachusetts Gaming Commission said it is investigating bets that sports media personality Bill Simmons said he had someone else place for him, a violation of the state’s gambling rules .

Simmons, a popular pundit and founder of sports media website The Ringer, said during a recent episode of his podcast that he asked his daughter’s boyfriend, who was in Boston, to place wagers for him while he was in Los Angeles.

“I did not know about the proxy rules,” Simmons said. “Yeah, there’s some real rules with this stuff.”

FanDuel Sportsbook said in a statement this week, “We became aware of the issue and handled it consistent with our Terms and Conditions and Massachusetts Gaming Commission regulations, including reporting the matter to the MGC, voiding the bets, and actioning the account.”

Thomas Mills, a spokesperson for the commission, also confirmed it was aware of the bets Simmons had his daughter’s boyfriend place and said it is “currently reviewing the matter.”

“Not only are the bets going to be voided,” Simmons said, setting up a joke, “but now my daughter has to break up with her boyfriend. Nah, I’m kidding, but I did learn … not allowed to do that.”

Sports betting is legal in Massachusetts but not California, one of only a handful of states that has not legalized government-regulated sportsbooks.

Simmons’s case highlights a growing concern some federal lawmakers and critics of the legalized gambling industry have raised about a patchwork of state laws that can make tracking illegal wagering and corrupt activity more difficult.

A number of high-profile scandals involving professional and college athletes in recent months has accelerated the national conversation around the potential downsides of sports betting, which in many states is a multimillion-dollar business and growing.