The Maine legislature is considering several bill that would legalize sports betting on professional and collegiate games.
They do have differences. One would give the state’s two casinos the option of offering sports book, while another would give that ability to the state’s Indian tribes. Some would instead allow placing bets online.
If Maine adopts such a law, it would break the market domination in New England of Rhode Island, which legalized sportsbook last year. It would join Nevada, Delaware, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Mississippi, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. in putting illegal bookies out of action.
Christine Kirby, spokesman for Senate President Troy Jackson commented, “The general idea is to establish a regulatory structure for sports betting in Maine after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling this past spring.” She added, “It also gives the Gambling Control Board significant authority to regulate sports betting.”
Jackson has sponsored two bills that regulate online and mobile gaming, while banning wagers on the state’s college teams, minor league teams and high school teams.
Senator Louis Luchini, who sponsored another of the bills, said he is still researching the right model for the state. “The goal would be to ensure there is an adequate regulatory framework for sports wagering, as it’s becoming legalized across the country,” said the senator.
Rep. Benjamin Collins, whose bill would open sports betting to the state’s tribes, predicts that a compromise will emerge that will give a number of interests a place at the table, including OTB parlors and the harness race industry. He thinks the sports betting market will be modest but profitable.
If tribes are allowed to participate it would be first. The legislature has never supported tribal gaming in any form.
“They still feel a little skeptical about that,” Collins told the Portland Press Herald, speaking of the tribes. “This is not an opportunity for them to make a ton of money but maybe a little bit.”
