The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (NJDGE) has fined online bookmaker PointsBet $25,000 (€23,446) for three violations of state sports betting laws.
Wagers made on eSport event involving underage player
Betting on In-State College
According to documents posted on the NJDGE website, a complaint was filed against PointsBet on June 20th 2023. The complaint alleged that the company had allowed wagering on a prohibited sporting event, an NCAA Basketball game on May 25th involving NJ-based school St. Peter’s University. Gambling on events that involve in-state college teams or athletes is prohibited in New Jersey.
eSports Wagers Involving Minor
As part of the same complaint the NJDGE also brought charges against PointsBet for accepting wagers on an eSports event that took place on October 29th 2021. The “League of Legends World Championships” involved an underage competitor. Betting on sports involving minors is also against local sports betting laws.
Illegal European Soccer Bets
In addition to those complaints, the regulator also found that PointsBet had allowed wagering on an English Championship League soccer match, Cardiff City vs. Milwall which took place on August 21st, 2021. The wagers were accepted after the match was finished and the result of the game known.
The sportsbook also accepted wagers on four other Championship matches, two Italian soccer matches, and one German Bundesliga match involving Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. In each of those cases, the outcomes of the games were known before the wagers were placed.
Following the complaints, the NJDGE fined PointsBet a total of $25,000 on August 23rd, 2023. However, the decision was not made public until September 20th 2023.
So far in 2023, gambling regulators across the globe have issued a total of $385,383,776 (€361,480,057) in fines and penalties.
According to the latest USA Gambling Statistics, PointsBet is the third most popular sports betting brand in the United States.
Ciaran has been working within the Gambling Industry as a deep analyst since 2019. His deep knowledge and understanding of all the gambling regulations, and processes makes him a true asset, and an always valuable point of view for Gambling Industry News, allowing us to cover every topics from a brand new perspective.