The Massachusetts Gaming Commission is looking into Bill Simmons’s recent admission that he had his daughter’s boyfriend place bets for him on The Ringer founder’s FanDuel account.
“The Commission is aware of the comments made on The Bill Simmons Podcast and staff are currently reviewing the matter,” MGC spokesperson Thomas Mills told Front Office Sports.
FanDuel told FOS it had voided the bets and sanctioned the account after becoming aware of Simmons’s comments.
The comments came on Monday’s episode of his eponymous podcast, in which Simmons discussed AFC over-under win total bets with “Cousin” Sal Iacono. During a conversation about the Texans, the former ESPN columnist reluctantly shared he had asked his daughter’s boyfriend to log into his FanDuel account for him in Massachusetts—where sports betting is legal—to place a bet for him.
“There was a couple bets I really wanted to get in. I wanted—there was UCLA overs, but Houston, the market had not shifted appropriately yet,” Simmons, who lives in California, where sports betting is not legal, said. “I can’t have my daughter do it. My dad would have no idea how to do it. But [my daughter’s boyfriend] Hank, I really trust Hank. I let Hank log into my FanDuel as me. I get the code to make sure it’s me to my phone. I give him the code, he logs in, and I have all this money that I had from last year because I actually hit a bunch of futures last year. And he’s putting in bets for me, and honestly, it was the closest I’ve ever felt to Hank. It’s a real bonding moment for us.”
Simmons added: “A week later, called him up, ran it back. We did some more.”
Proxy betting—having somebody else place bets for you under your account—is explicitly barred by both Massachusetts and FanDuel, The Ringer’s exclusive betting partner.
“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,” FanDuel said in a statement to FOS.
State law requires sportsbooks to “prevent persons from placing wagers as agents or proxies for others.” Meanwhile, the state’s gaming regulations classify anyone who bets on someone else’s behalf—in this case, Simmons’s daughter’s boyfriend—as a “prohibited person,” a designation that requires operators to block them from wagering and cancel and confiscate the funds from any bet placed under such circumstances.
Meanwhile, FanDuel’s terms and conditions explicitly state: “Your account is solely for your personal use. Customers are prohibited from wagering on behalf of a third party and/or allowing other individuals to access their account. This is considered proxy betting and if detected by FanDuel, may result in a permanent suspension and forfeiture of winnings.”
The Ringer did not immediately respond to requests for comment from FOS. On Tuesday evening, Simmons addressed the issue on his podcast, saying, “Did not know about the proxy rules. Yeah, there’s some real rules with this stuff… and I learned my lesson. Proxy betting: not allowed. I actually thought it was, but that’s fine… but I did learn. Not allowed to do that.”
