Indiana Sports Betting Fines For BetMGM, Fanatics Stem From Tech Issues


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Indiana sports betting

Two Indiana sports betting apps agreed to both pay a $2,500 fine after tech changes allowed customers on the voluntary self-exclusion list to place bets despite the self-imposed ban.

The Indiana Gaming Commission announced the settlements with BetMGM and Fanatics during a meeting on Thursday.

Both online Indiana sportsbooks noticed the issue and reported it to state regulators.

Fanat IN sports betting violation

A Fanatics customer placed more than $3,200 worth of wagers through his Indiana sports betting account after it was accidentally turned on when the operator migrated its platform from PointsBet on Feb. 27.

According to settlement documents, the player initially had a year-long exclusion that began on Dec. 4, 2023. When the account became active at the end of February, the player then gave himself a 21-day timeout ending March 19.

Outside the timeout period between Feb. 27 and March 22, the player deposited $1,300 and made 22 bets totaling $3,208. Fanatics told state regulators that its exclusion matching service found the error. Fanatics suspended the account and refunded the player his remaining $1,100 on March 24.

Tech migration allows prohibited BetMGM customer access

Last summer, BetMGM was migrating its platform to a single wallet, allowing customers to use the same account across its legal sports betting markets. In Indiana, one customer on the voluntary self-exclusion list whose account did not migrate correctly created an account in October 2023.

According to settlement documents, between Oct. 25, 2023, and Jan. 11, 2024, the player deposited $310, made an undisclosed number of bets totaling $443 and withdrew $107.50. BetMGM recognized the error and closed the account on Jan. 11 before reporting it to the state gaming commission on Feb. 2.

Before BetMGM had single-account, single-wallet capabilities, each state had its own individual self-exclusion database. It would only block players from accessing accounts in that specific state. The tech migration brought each separate self-exclusion list into a single database, allowing BetMGM to prevent access to prohibited customers regardless of location.

Photo by Shutterstock/Marcus Finn Saunders