The Maine Gambling Control Unit held its final public hearing last week on the regulations that will govern sports betting, paving the way for the first bets to be placed as early as this summer.
Thus, Maine is a step closer to launching legal sports gambling, although state broadcasters and tribal leaders say some of the proposed rules go “too far”.
Only a few proposed sports gambling rules were questioned before the regulator. One would require license applicants to submit recent state and federal tax returns.
As reported by Fox23Maine, Passamaquoddy Chief William Nicholas said: “Sovereign nations, native nations, do not pay state and federal taxes like other entities to be licensed under these rules. Yet the rules do not account for the very real differences.”
Another rule would prohibit advertising sports gambling on college campuses. It would also limit the amount of sports betting advertising on local television stations, something tribal leaders and Maine broadcasters strongly oppose.
Maine Association of Broadcasters President Tim Moore stated that sports betting is a legal activity and, “as long as the advertising is truthful and not misleading, then it’s protected by the First Amendment.”
Under the proposed rule, television advertising “may only take place during an event and only on the channel that the event is being telecast when wagers on that event are offered by a licensed operator in Maine.”
Moore said these TV advertising rules would be the strictest in the nation when it comes to sports betting, with no celebrity endorsements and a 10-day advance approval by the state of all TV ads before they run.
“For the Native American tribes, it’s very unfair because it leaves them without the promotional ammunition that they need to get the word out,” Moore said. The head of the gambling control unit said they will consider adjustments to their rules, if they feel those changes are viable.
State law gives Maine’s four tribes exclusive rights to online sports betting. It also allows sports betting at Maine’s two casinos and soon-to-be five off-track betting sites. “Today was an indication that we’re going to be able to get this done sooner rather than later,” Maine Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milton Champion said. “I’d really like to do that. It would be nice to roll this out in like June or July.”
Maine stands to get millions of dollars from sports betting. Under the law, the state will get about 10% of the total revenue from all sports bets placed. March 3 is the deadline to submit written comments on the proposed rules. The gambling control unit will soon be putting applications on its website for provisional licenses while these rules can be finalized.
Original article: https://www.yogonet.com/international/news/2023/02/07/66012-maine-eyeing-summer-sports-betting-rollout-rules-deemed-too-strict-by-tribes-broadcasters
