Maine legislators approve sports betting bill

Lawmakers in Maine approved a bill that would authorise facilities in the state to offer sports betting services.

US.- Sports betting could arrive in Maine soon, as legislators advanced a bill that would allow the 11 facilities in the state to offer such gambling modality. The legislative piece would establish that bets can be placed both in person and online.

Members of the Senate voted 19-15 in favour of the bill, which would allow individuals over 21 to place bets on both professional and collegiate sports across the state. LD 553 would also allow bets to be placed at physical locations like casinos and through mobile phones and online.

If fully approved, the Maine sports betting bill would also establish that back and mortar facilities would be required of a 10% tax rate. Moreover, mobile-only platform operators would pay a 16% tax on their revenues.

One of the things that have been discussed when treating the bill is the possibility of operators that wish to gain an online license to have some kind of association with a physical gambling facility. However, a majority of committee members opted for an untethered licence, as they believe is easier and offers a “free” approach.

“To me it’s a strange way to write a law that would require a new business to come into Maine only if they tether their license to an existing business,” said Luchini, co-chairman of the Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee. “We don’t require Amazon to tether to existing grocery stores and we don’t require Airbnb to tether to hotels.”