The Ringer Founder Bill Simmons has been placed under review by the Massachusetts Gaming Commission after admitting to having his daughter’s boyfriend place bets on his FanDuel account – otherwise known as proxy betting.
On his podcast, Simmons stated: “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. 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.”
Despite the bond which was apparently formed between Simmons and his daughter’s boyfriend, sports betting is currently illegal in California, and proxy betting is prohibited by both Massachusetts gaming regulations and FanDuel.
FanDuel expanded its partnership with The Ringer – currently owned by Spotify – during April 2023, while FanDuel Sports Network agreed to a new partnership with the media company to host two podcasts on live television beginning in November 2025.
Simmons addressed the investigation on a later episode of his podcast, having said: “I talked about how I got my daughter’s boyfriend to place some bets for me in Massachusetts because I was in (Los Angeles). Did not know about the proxy rules. Yeah, there are some real rules with this stuff and they’ve ruled that not only are the bets going to be voided — and I learned my lesson, apparently proxy betting – not allowed, I actually thought it was, but that’s fine — and now my daughter has to break up with her boyfriend; that was the other thing.
“No, I’m kidding, they’re going to stay together. But yeah, I did learn, 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. There you go. Lesson learned.”
As Simmons noted, FanDuel voided the wagers in question and placed a suspension on The Ringer Founder’s account while the investigation continues.
At the time of writing, FanDuel remains as The Ringer’s exclusive betting partner, while advertisements for the operator were running on Simmons’ podcast as of September 3.
Coincidentally, FanDuel and Kindbridge Behavioral Health recently expanded their responsible gambling partnership with a focus on prevention, self-assessment and access to professional support for customers.
The NFL announced new deals with DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics on August 27 – with each operator signing multi-year partnership agreements with the professional football league
