“The point of this was to give the tribes access to mobile betting. That would generate more traffic to the raceway than the raceway would generate to the casino.”īut a majority of committee members, all Democrats, were not moved by that argument. “If the Oxford Casino is getting a license, our strong preference would be that the license just go to the Bangor casino. “It’s simply not practical to give the racetrack a retail sports book license,” Jackson said. He said the raceway only generates 1 percent of the foot traffic generated by the casino.

“The inclusion of these entities will directly benefit the two casino operators in Maine.”Ĭhris Jackson, a lobbyist for Hollywood Casino, urged lawmakers to allow the company to operate the sports betting facility at the Bangor casino, rather than the racetrack, which he said is across the street and ill-suited for in-person sports betting. “The Wabanaki Nations support the inclusion of commercial tracks, including Hollywood Casino Raceway Bangor (Bangor Raceway), and Oxford Casino for facility licenses to conduct retail in-person sports betting,” the Wabanaki chiefs said in a letter to the committee Tuesday. She said the tribes included Oxford Casino after realizing that Hollywood Casino would be able to conduct sports betting at Bangor Raceway, which it operates as a condition for having the casino. The original bill only would have allowed in-person sports betting at off-track betting facilities, but the tribes also wanted to support harness racing tracks, said Allison Binney, an attorney for the Penobscot Nation. The amended version would allow commercial harness racing tracks in Bangor and Cumberland and the Oxford Casino to offer in-person sports betting, while tribes would have exclusive rights to the operation of mobile sports betting, which is done from computers or cellphones. Most of the attention focused on a last-minute amendment that addresses criticism from Maine’s gambling interests, which wanted similar access to sports betting. The committee spent over three hours discussing the bill before voting late Wednesday afternoon. 585, goes before the full Legislature in the coming weeks, the committee recommendation will come with four minority reports, including three amended versions and an ought-not-to-pass recommendation.

Related Divided legislative committee passes landmark tribal sovereignty billīut when the bill, L.D. Subscribe - Holiday Gift Subscriptions Sign In My Account Logout Primary Menu ☰ X

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