Maine Sports Wagering Bill Passes House and Senate
Unlike previous efforts that have met resistance (vetoes and veto threats) from the Maine Governor, this bill is endorsed by her Administration. The bill must clear a couple of procedural hurdles before being sent to the Governor for her signature.
While intuitively, it would be expected that she will sign the bill, this Governor has had an adversarial relationship with the tribes for a while and nothing is guaranteed.
The bill limits the market and gives the four state tribal entities (which do not currently have gaming) the exclusive right to offer mobile betting – 1 license/skin per tribe. The bill also gives casinos/OTBs the ability to offer retail sports books – 7 current locations and potential for 3 additional locations in the future.
The bill imposes a 10% tax rate; $200k for a mobile license (held by the tribe) and valid for 4 years; $40k for managed services license to manage sports betting on behalf of a licensee and also $40k for suppliers licenses, again for a 4 year term. Suppliers are not clearly defined in the bill and much will be left to the “Director” of the Gambling Control Unit under the Department of Public Safety.
Because the sports betting portion of the bill does not include a negotiated gambling compact, we do not believe the IGRA applies, and therefore would not need to receive approval from the U.S. Department of Interior. However, the legislation includes the requirement that a management services provider to a tribe receive no more than 30% (40% with approval of the director) of the adjusted gross sports wagering receipts (see page 4, line 40 through page 5, Line 11 in the doc).
We will be watching to see when/if the bill clears the final procedural hurdles and will keep you updated.