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Bill Simmons revealed he thought proxy betting was allowed in online sports betting. Bill Simmons revealed he thought proxy betting was allowed in online sports betting. Getty Images for Vanity Fair

Bill Simmons’ bets are busted already. 

During his NFL season preview, where he picks the over/under of every NFL team for this upcoming season, the famed podcaster revealed that some of the lines were too good to wait, and he just had to call his daughter’s boyfriend Hank to wager some money on his account as a proxy while Simmons was in Los Angeles where FanDuel Sportsbook is not legal.

That, of course, is called proxy betting — a big no-no in the eyes of legalized gambling — and he got himself into some hot water, with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission launching an investigation.

Simmons addressed the controversy Tuesday on the latest episode of his eponymous podcast.

Bill Simmons wearing headphones and a hoodie, speaking into a microphone.Bill Simmons addressed the proxy betting scandal on his podcast in the first two minutes of his most recent episode. Spotify

“I talked about how I got my daughter’s boyfriend to place some bets for me in Massachusetts, because I was in L.A.,” Simmons said. “Did not know about the proxy rules. Yeah, there’s some real rules with this stuff. … I learned my lesson. Apparently, proxy betting, not allowed. I actually thought it was, but that’s fine.”

Simmons revealed that his bets were voided by FanDuel as a result of the proxy betting, which is not allowed on online betting apps, although it is legally allowed in the state of Nevada in a variety of ways but only at the counter in retail settings.

He then joked that his daughter and her boyfriend had to break up.

“But I did learn,” Simmons went on. “Not allowed to do that. So all those bets went out the window. All that special time I had with Hank out the window as well. The good news is I’m going to be in Boston, and maybe at some point I’ll make some more wagers down the road. So there you go. Lesson learned.”

FanDuel recently unleashed a new marketing program saying, “Available everywhere” with new graphics to promote their new prediction market exchange, but many of the bets discussed on the podcast are not available on the exchange.

Simmons reposted a marketing post on X late Tuesday night to point out that trading sports swaps on their prediction market platform is legal in California.

It appears, at least for now, that Simmons’ account hasn’t been suspended by FanDuel or the Massachusetts Gaming Commission, although that’s certainly on the table as the MGC gets deeper into this investigation. 

The FanDuel logo is displayed on a smartphone screen.Simmons, FanDuel may still be in hot water with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett

The MGC is the strictest of commissions of any state in the country so it remains possible that the MGC rakes the famed podcast host over the coals for this one. 

The MGC infamously dug up some old comments from Barstool Founder Dave Portnoy, who in the early stages of his content creation life said that he had a real gambling addiction – another thing that legal betting doesn’t want any jokes about.


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The formerly named Barstool Sportsbook was being grilled by regulators over the “Can’t lose parlay” tagline, where the company hilariously defended it by giving the “Crunch Berries” defense, as the popular cereal obviously doesn’t contain real berries, 

It remains to be seen whether Simmons will get just a slap on the wrist or something more substantial, but the rule break could have been jeopardized their multi-million dollar marketing agreement between the Ringer and FanDuel, but for now he appears to have avoided the worst.

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