It’s not uncommon to see an athlete suspended for a few games every so often. But when was the last time you saw a sportsbook face a suspension?
That’s exactly what the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) proposed Thursday, saying that, in a first for the province’s regulated online gambling industry, it was trying to suspend PointsBet’s de facto iGaming license for five days.
The reason, the AGCO said, was “PointsBet’s alleged systemic failure to properly monitor, detect, document and report suspicious betting patterns related to the 2024 bet-rigging scheme involving (the NBA's) Jontay Porter, which has been the focus of a major criminal investigation in the United States.”
"Honestly, I think the sheriff, Adam Silver went a little bit soft on crime."@BannedMacMahon reacts to the seven game suspension for Pistons big man Isaiah Stewart received for his scuffle with the Hornets. pic.twitter.com/6kZogN4Rtl
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 11, 2026
Ontario’s online sports betting regulator went into further detail about the chain of events that led to PointsBet’s proposed suspension. In short, it took 18 months for the operator to reveal it had Porter-related betting markets up that bore signs of suspicious wagering.
However, PointsBet’s account is more innocent, saying the problems “stem from an initial inaccurate response in March 2024, caused by human error during an organizational transition - not any intent to withhold information.”
“Upon discovering the correct data, we immediately disclosed it, cooperated fully with the investigation, and engaged proactively with the regulator,” a spokesperson for PointsBet Canada said.
The online sportsbook operator also said it “respectfully” believes the proposed punishment is a bit harsh, and that it is reviewing all its options, including a request for a hearing before the independent Licence Appeal Tribunal.
Reached out to the Ontario Provincial Police after the AGCO announced today a proposed license suspension for PointsBet tied to the Jontay Porter controversy. According to a spokesperson, a criminal investigation begun in June 2024 is still ongoing and no charges have been laid. pic.twitter.com/1cShycPkvU
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) February 12, 2026
I’m not here to judge the fairness of this situation, but I will say that the patience among lawmakers and regulators for any sports betting-related integrity issues is wearing thin.
Other recent happenings suggest as much. This shortening of fuses is also taking place as various sports betting scandals continue to pop up, earning media coverage and attracting the attention of lawmakers and regulators in Canada and the U.S.
Czech yourself
The AGCO's proposed penalty for PointsBet follows a $350,000 fine it levied against FanDuel in January. That sanction was for allegedly failing to "appropriately identify and report unusual and suspicious betting and match-fixing activity involving events with known integrity concerns."
Those events in question were Czech table tennis matches, on which FanDuel accepted 144 bets from Ontario accounts in late 2024.
“The AGCO’s review concluded that, despite these warning signs, FanDuel failed to meet its obligations to identify the unusual and suspicious activity, respond to those activities and report them,” the regulator said. “As a result, betting on the affected events was permitted to continue uninterrupted for several weeks.”
Similar to PointsBet, FanDuel felt the AGCO was being a bit heavy-handed with its actions given the circumstances, which included FanDuel “proactively” reporting the questionable activity to the regulator.
“As an operator that prides itself on the trust we have built with our stakeholders, we do not feel that this action accurately reflects the commitment and investment we have consistently demonstrated regarding protecting the industry, our customers, and the integrity of sport,” a FanDuel spokesperson said. “We also are concerned it could discourage the industry from engaging in best efforts to identify, investigate, and report on irregular activity.”
Even with the explanation and warnings, the hammer was dropped on FanDuel. And this kind treatment may not just be a Canadian phenomenon, either.
During today's public meeting, commissioners voted to update the approved catalog of events by limiting approved table tennis events to only those sanctioned by the ITTF.
— MA Gaming Commission (@MassGamingComm) February 12, 2026
See the updated catalog here: https://t.co/e4OZUCkN9D pic.twitter.com/AUl2NEXPhk
On Thursday, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC) settled on a simple way to avoid any table tennis-related betting issues: Ban most of it.
After receiving a memo from their staff, the MGC's commissioners voted to limit wagering on table tennis to only events sanctioned by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), with the AGCO cited as an example.
“Table tennis wagering, particularly on privately operated non-ITTF competitions, has been associated with elevated integrity risks internationally,” the MGC staff memo said. “These risks include documented instances of match manipulation and betting-related corruption. Most notably, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (‘AGCO’) imposed a significant monetary penalty on a licensed operator for offering wagering on Czech table tennis matches that were later determined to be compromised by match fixing.”
The MGC is arguably one of the more active and engaged legal sports betting regulators in the U.S. And, in 2025, the Massachusetts sports betting watchdog assessed seven fines in connection with "catalog noncompliance," meaning stuff that operators offered for betting that wasn't supposed to be there.
In the past, another relatively active sports betting regulator, the Ohio Casino Control Commission, hit DraftKings with a $425,000 fine, which was partly due to taking bets on college player props after the state banned those wagering markets.
Lawmakers are showing their frustration as well and are aiming to take certain betting markets out of circulation to try to defuse any further scandal. A quick scan of legislation filed so far this year shows bills in Kentucky, New York, and New Jersey that aim to restrict or prohibit prop betting.
Those legislative efforts are in addition to the efforts of leagues themselves to curtail certain wagering opportunities. Because, in some instances, lawmakers and regulators may not believe it’s enough.
The New York State Gaming Commission appears to be one of these still-concerned parties.
“The recent allegations, investigations and prosecutions that have come to light have caused the Commission to re-examine all individual player proposition wagers that are game specific, as well as single game specific multi-leg individual player parlays,” the gaming commissioners said in a letter to league commissioners earlier this month. “If our review requires the outright elimination of certain bets, the Gaming Commission will use its regulatory authority to prohibit them.”
So, patience is at a premium these days. When it comes to anything related to the integrity of betting markets and the games themselves, it's even more limited.
