Summer Olympic: Sports You Can’t Bet On at Massachusetts Sportsbooks

Written By Mike Breen on July 15, 2024
Summer Olympics Betting Massachusetts

The Summer Olympics begin in Paris on July 26, with plenty of betting options available at Massachusetts online sportsbooks. There are also many wagers, however, that are not permitted in the Commonwealth. 

Specifically, Massachusetts sports betting forbids wagering on any events in which the outcome is determined by judges. Before sportsbooks launched in the state last year, regulators decided that determining the winners of those types of events relies too much on the subjective opinions of the judges.

To ensure integrity, the majority of events permitted for betting in the state’s Sports Wagering Catalog rely on precise outcomes that are regulated by a sport or event’s governing body.

The MGC website explains that any event “in which the final outcome of the event is primarily based on the evaluation or assessment of a judge or panel of judges is not allowed.”

Massachusetts commissioners discuss prohibited Olympic bets

The subject of the wagering prohibition on judged events was briefly broached at the Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s July 11 meeting. 

Fanatics and Penn Entertainment (operators of ESPN Bet) sought commission approval for updates to their house rules at the meeting. Both operators’ updates included language addressing rules regarding betting on Summer Olympic markets. 

Commissioners asked sports wagering operations manager Andrew Steffen for a refresher on the prohibited Olympic events in Massachusetts:

“Any event at the Olympics that is primarily based on the assessment of judges or a panel of judges (is) not allowed. We have identified several Olympic events and we have relayed those events to the operators, that they are not permitted to offer those sports for wagering.”

Summer Olympics events Massachusetts can’t bet on

These will be the first Olympic games available for Massachusetts bettors, with sports betting launched there in early 2023. Bets can be placed on many of the summer games’ more popular events, including swimming, track and field, tennis, basketball, and soccer.

But there are several events for which bets can’t be accepted in Massachusetts, according to the Sports Wagering Catalog. If you’re a fan of some of the newer Summer Olympic events and hoped to wager on them in Massachusetts, you’re out of luck. Winners of the BMX freestyle, skateboarding, surfing, and break dancing events are all determined by judges and are therefore forbidden.

Other Summer Olympic events Massachusetts bettors can’t wager on include:

  • Artistic gymnastics
  • Rhythmic gymnastics
  • Diving
  • Equestrian 
  • Artistic swimming
  • Trampoline

Massachusetts also forbids Olympic betting on certain Russian athletes

Another unique wrinkle to Olympic betting in Massachusetts is the Commonwealth’s restrictions on betting on Russian or Belarusian athletes. 

In the wake of the war in Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) determined that no teams from Russia and Belarus would be able to compete in the Summer Games. Athletes from those countries may compete as “Individual Neutral Athletes,” with no explicit representation of their homelands.

Last March, the MGC voted to approve an amendment clarifying its original regulation forbidding betting on Russian or Belarusian events, leagues, and players. The commission determined that bets could be placed on athletes from Russia and Belarus participating in the Olympics. That is, as long as they do not publicly express their country affiliation. 

The updated regulation says: 

“Wagering is permitted on a Russian- or Belarusian-born, based, or affiliated athlete competing individually or on a team in an event authorized in the commission’s catalog if the event is scheduled to be conducted outside of Russia or Belarus and they are not known to represent or promote those countries.”

That means that if a Russian or Belarusian athlete competing as an INA were to pull out their country’s flag during competition or make comments expressing their connection to the countries, you would no longer be able to wager on them in the Commonwealth.

Photo by Dreamstime / PlayMA
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Mike Breen

Mike Breen is an Ohio-based professional writer who has more than two decades of experience covering sports, news, music, arts and culture. He has covered online sports betting, responsible gambling, and other gambling initiatives for a variety of markets over the last couple of years. That now includes PlayMA.

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