A bill filed in the Maine Senate proposes a blanket ban on prop betting in fantasy contests.
Senate Bill 33 was filed by Democrat Sen. Craig Hickman on Jan. 6 and referred to the Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs on Jan. 8. It puts forward An Act to Amend the Laws Governing Fantasy Contests to clarify the definitions and legal and regulatory standing of fantasy sports events.
Most notably, it states explicitly that a fantasy contest may not be based on a prop wager “or a contest that has the effect of mimicking a proposition bet.”
The bill’s newly added definition of a prop bet clarifies that the term “proposition bet” refers to both event and player props that are not dependent on the final outcome of the sports event in question.
“‘Proposition bet’ means a wager made regarding the occurrence or nonoccurrence of an event or circumstance during a sports event that is not dependent on the final outcome of the sports event, including a contest in which a contestant must choose, directly or indirectly, whether an individual athlete or a single team will surpass an identified statistical achievement, such as points scored,” reads the definition in full.
The bill also updates the definition of “fantasy contest” to mean a contest in which six or more contestants pay an entry fee to participate, doubles both the initial and renewal fees for a license for a fantasy contest operator to $5,000 and repeals the law allowing a fantasy contest operator to operate a contest while a license is pending.
Maine hardens stance on DFS
Maine is home to several daily fantasy sports operators including DraftKings and FanDuel. However, the Maine Gambling Control Unit (MGCU) and its Executive Director Milt Champion have had a somewhat thorny relationship with DFS in recent times.
Five other fantasy operators including Underdog shut down their operations in the Pine Tree State early last year after failing to renew their licenses.
In Underdog’s case, that came after the MGCU fined it nearly $400,000 for alleged regulatory violations around its pick’em contest product. Champion stated that Underdog’s offerings did not constitute legal products under Maine regulations. Maine banned pick’em fantasy contests in late 2023.
Elsewhere, in other DFS developments, a new bill in Kentucky would create a framework for the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation to regulate fantasy sports.
