A Maine committee voted unanimously on Tuesday to table a bill that would alter daily fantasy sports (DFS) in the state.
At a meeting of the Joint Standing Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs, the committee, which is chaired by Sen. Craig Hickman, tabled Hickman’s LD33, noting that there was still “a lot to digest.”
Hickman’s bill would clarify the definitions and legal and regulatory standing of fantasy sports events. It would stipulate at least six participants would be needed to take part in a paid fantasy contest, would update licensing fees and tax rates and would explicitly ban all fantasy contests based on prop betting.
“I think the intent of the legislation is to try to draw a clearer line between what is considered a fantasy sports contest and what is considered sports wagering,” said legislative analyst Rachel Olson.
There was no fiscal impact statement filed for the bill. Hickman noted that even as the vessel for the legislation, he needs more clarity and time to read through the reams of research related to the DFS.
“There’s a lot here,” he acknowledged. “This small bill has turned up a ton of research that I have a lot of questions about.”
FanDuel and DraftKings had proposed amendments
Olson noted that several amendments had been proposed and that comparisons had been draw with other states.
“No other states define fantasy contests with a threshold as high as six,” she said. “Most states do not specify a number of participants. Most states that do usually say one or more.”
FanDuel and DraftKings, which both operate in Maine, proposed amendments to make fantasy contests open to two or more contestants rather than six. Meanwhile, Olson noted that Maine Gambling Control Unit (MGCU) Executive Director Milt Champion has suggested that applicants with pending applications, such as PrizePicks, be grandfathered in.
Champion and the MGCU have had a testy relationship with DFS in past years.
Five fantasy operators, including Underdog, shut down their operations in the state early last year after failing to renew their licenses. The MGCU fined Underdog more than $390,000 in late 2023 for alleged regulatory violations around its pick’em product, when Champion argued that such offerings did not constitute legal products under Maine regulations.
The state banned pick’em fantasy contests in late 2023.
Elsewhere, regulation of DFS is also on the legislative agenda this year in other states including Illinois, Maryland, Hawaii and Kentucky.
