The Maine legislature last week approved a bill that will legalize sports betting in the state. All that remains is for Maine Governor Janet Mills to sign it, making Maine the sixth state to legalize sports book this year. The bill would allow sports betting at retail locations and existing casinos, and on mobile platforms and online.
The vote was 19-15 in the Senate and unanimously in the House.
The bill’s approval came at the end of a whirlwind of lawmaking activity during the last day of the legislative session that became an all-nighter. Five similar bills were considered before sections from each were combined into two bills that were debated over several committee hearings and workshops and finally on the Senate floor.
One version allowed mobile sports betting free of “tethering” to physical locations such as the state’s two casinos. The final version included that aspect, but also allowed for licenses at casinos, racetracks, Off-Track Betting operations and federally recognized Indian tribes.
Eleven entities fit those descriptions, including Bangor’s Hollywood Casino, Oxford Casino, the single racetrack, Scarborough Downs, four OTBs and four tribes. In addition, online/mobile providers can also participate without “tethering.” The approach has been called a “free-market” scheme.
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Louis Luchini had argued against any kind of “tethering.”
“We don’t require Amazon to tether to existing grocery stores and we don’t require Airbnb to tether to hotels,” he told the Press Herald at the time.
The law authorizes the Gambling Control Unit of the Department of Public Safety to award a sports betting license to any “qualified gaming entity,” and the entities that fit that bill are wide-ranging. They include daily fantasy sports providers FanDuel and DraftKings and a host of others. The latter has been offerings sports betting in New Jersey since last year when the Supreme Court lifted the federal ban on sports book.
The Maine bill does not allow minors to bet. Wagers on college and professional teams are allowed, except for events where Maine teams are participating. Brick and mortar sports book wagers are taxed at 10 percent and 16 percent for online wagers.
Licenses cost $20,000 for the first license or a license renewal. Funds raised would go into the state’s general fund, with some set aside for administrative expenses and 1 percent to fight gambling addiction.
The state expects to collect about $1,311,000 the first year and $2,622,000 the following year.
