Maine became the 15th state to enact legislation to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports on Wednesday, continuing its momentum that is leaving online poker in the dust. It is also the sixth state to do so this year, following Arkansas, Delaware, Mississippi, Vermont, and neighboring New Hampshire.
The bill, named “An Act To Regulate and Tax Sports Fantasy League Activities in Maine,” was presented by State Senator Roger Katz (no relation) and co-sponsored by State Representatives Jeffrey Timberlake, Bradlee Thomas Farrin, and Jared Golden and State Senators Andre E. Cushing III, Troy Dale Jackson, Garrett P. Mason. It passed the House by a vote of 90 to 53 in late June, though the Maine legislature’s website does not show the vote for the Senate. It was sent to Gov. Paul LePage’s desk for signature, but as he did nothing with it by Tuesday night (he was likely too busy leaving obscene, threatening voice mails to lawmakers who claimed he was racist, which he is), the bill became law.
It is a relatively short piece of legislation, spanning just ten pages including amendments, and declares daily fantasy sports a game of skill, therefore meaning Maine’s gambling laws do not apply to the pastime.
One interesting part of the new law is that it waives the annual licensing fee for any operator that does not generate $100,000 or more in gross fantasy contest revenues in the state. For those that do – and this would only be market leaders DraftKings and FanDuel – the annual fee is just $2,500. Additionally, only those who gross $100,000 would be required to pay the 10 percent daily fantasy sports tax.
The registration fee is 10 percent of the operators gross fantasy contest revenue, not to exceed $5,000.
The rest of the law is pretty much what we have seen from other states: customers must be at least 18-years old, player funds must be kept separate from operating funds, marketing must not target minors or people with gambling addiction, “highly experienced” players must be identified in the software, third party scripts are not allowed, things like that.
Marc La Vorgna, the spokesman for both DraftKings and FanDuel, offered a brief statement (credit to Legal Sports Report for the quote):
Maine is now the 15th state to adopt a regulatory framework to protect the right to play fantasy sports, protect consumers and help a booming piece of the tech economy continue to grow. Thanks to action by the legislature — led by Senators Carpenter, Jackson, Katz, and Mason, and Representatives Dillingham, Farrin, Golden and Luchini — up to 200,000 Mainers will continue to enjoy our new national pastime — fantasy sports — under a framework of sensible, light-touch consumer protections.
New Jersey also has a DFS legalization bill on the Governor’s desk, and seeing as the state’s Governor is pro-gambling Chris Christie, odds are he will either sign it or simply not veto it. Pennsylvania also has legislation in the works, which should pass if lawmakers their ever get around to it. Should those two states pass their bills, most of the northeast and mid-Atlantic states would have legalized daily fantasy sports.
