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BOSTON, Mass (Gambling911.com) - A well known sports writer who once worked for ESPN is under investigation by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission after FanDuel reported the individual for proxy betting.
That individual is Phil Simmons, a a longtime sportswriter/podcaster who founded The Ringer in addition to his work at ESPN.
Simmons has talked and written about sports betting for decades, frequently discusses lines and futures on his podcast, and has had recurring gambling-oriented content with Cousin Sal and Joe House.
Proxy betting is where another individual is found to have placed a wager on another person's behalf. With online sportsbooks, it can include giving someone else access to your sportsbook account so that person can make the wager from a jurisdiction where betting is permitted.
The MGC confirmed that an investigation started on Wednesday, as Simmons confirmed that he logged into his daughter’s boyfriend’s FanDuel account to place bets. MGC’s spokesman Thomas Mills said that the Commission is aware of Bill Simmon’s comments on his podcast and this is under review.
While Simmons is based out of Los Angeles, the daughter's boyfriend was in Massachusetts at the time the bets were placed.
Massachusetts law specifically requires licensed sportsbooks to “prohibit persons from placing wagers as agents or proxies for others.” The law also identifies the use of agents to place wagers as suspicious or illegal wagering activity that operators must report.
There's another important provision. Massachusetts requires mobile wagers to be made by people physically located within Massachusetts, and says the wagers must be “initiated, received and otherwise made” within the Commonwealth.
Chapter 23N §11 puts much of the direct compliance obligation on the sportsbook operator. That's one reason FanDuel's conduct—whether its controls should have detected/prevented the proxy wagering—is part of the regulatory issue.
FanDuel said it immediately contacted the commonwealth regulator once it learned of the proxy bets being placed. Simmons said he was unaware they were illegal.
In an ironic twist, FanDuel is the exclusive sports betting partner of The Ringer.
Simmons had worked for ESPN for 14 years.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
