The Maine event
Maine completion, Vermont unhappiness, gambling shirt sponsorships examined, Netherlands applications news +More
Good morning. On today’s agenda:
Maine’s regulations have been finalized.
But operators are unhappy with Vermont.
Up in arms: The shirt sponsorship debate in the UK examined.
LeoVegas gets Dutch go-ahead; but Betsson pulls its application.
Regulations fixed
Maine is targeting a November launch for OSB.
Final offer: According to executive director Milton Champion, the Maine Gambling Control Board has submitted its final sports-betting regulations to the Office of the Attorney General for review. Per Champion, the rules are expected to be adopted in November, barring any hiccups.
Temporary licenses will be granted on the day of adoption, with licensees able to go live immediately.
But there is a big caveat with the launch date.
As Champion noted on social media, “With limited staff, potential licensees should get their applications in as soon as possible. Applications are available on our website.”
Self-inflicted wounds: Since legalization, Maine’s path to legal sports betting has been challenging. The initial rules proposed by the Gambling Control Board were highly criticized, with some of the strictest language on advertising in the US.
The second round of rules was more in line with other states but released just as Champion faced disciplinary action over insensitive social media posts.
State regulators are working with a bare-bones staff, which made parsing the numerous public comments received during the rulemaking process a logistical nightmare.
Because of these complicating factors, many believed the launch date would be pushed back to early 2024 – which it still might, given Champion’s warning about submitting licensing applications.
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Vermont discontent
Operators are unhappy with Vermont’s proposed rules.
99 problems: The leading operators put pen to paper to express their concerns about the Green Mountain State’s sports-betting rules. Operators weren’t present for a public hearing on the rules, but several sent written statements to the Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery.
FanDuel’s letter listed 58 concerns and requests for clarification in a 25-page document. The concerns ranged from a first-of-its-kind requirement that would give independent testing labs access to a sports-betting platform’s source code to mundane grammatical errors.
Vermont’s rules point to a larger issue in the space: a lack of continuity. Vermont, a state that lacks commercial gambling, is essentially trying to reinvent the wheel, despite having numerous regulatory forerunners to mimic.
As FanDuel’s Andrew Winchell wrote:
“Based on our extensive experience as an operator in the sports-betting industry and collaboration with regulators of sports wagering in many states in the development of their regulations, we offer constructive feedback on ways in which the Proposed Procedures can be improved for effectiveness and consistency with other state regulations.”
FanDuel pointed to several Vermont-specific proposals in its letter:
The source code mentioned above.
Giving the Lottery authority to set promotional caps on operators.
Using *Required Fields in the registration process.
Disclosures (which FanDuel called “lecturing” players) and requiring players to reaffirm changes to self-limits.
Keeping up with the Jones’s: Several policies were adjusted, but the state’s final rules left in several of the more contentious policies, including the requirement to send in source code for testing. The final rules also left in place several new KYC and registration policies.
It will be interesting to see if Vermont’s regulations that chip around the edges of the established status quo leak into other jurisdictions.
Maine attempted this with its advertising proposals but eventually relented.
Massachusetts received many concessions from operators, and those concessions are becoming more common throughout sports-betting states.
Vermont doesn’t have the clout its southern neighbor does, but it doesn’t have to play nice since it lacks existing relationships with gambling companies.
Football sponsorship
A recent survey by the Football Supporters’ Association found that 73% of supporters were concerned about the amount of gambling sponsorships.
Statto: This damning stat comes on the back of several new betting company tie-ups, despite the Premier League self-imposing a ban on front-of-shirt gambling sponsorships from the start of the 2026/27 season. The ban doesn’t, however, apply to shirt sleeves or advertising within the stadium.
In all, seven EPL clubs will line up with betting company logos on their shirts this season, though none of them sit within the so-called ‘Big Six’.
Last week, Chelsea reportedly abandoned a potential one-year partnership worth £40m with Stake.com following a backlash from fans.
The Chelsea Supporters’ Trust welcomed the backtrack, stating “over 77% of our members disagreed” with the proposed deal.
Aston Villa fans were also up in arms over their club’s new three-year, £8m per season deal with BK8. In response to Supporters Trust concerns, Villa CEO Christian Purslow told fans the commercial reality was that gambling companies invariably provided double the money offered by other sponsors.
Martin Cloake, former co-chair of the Tottenham Hotspur Supporters’ Trust, suggests most fans’ objections are not to betting itself, but “the amount of advertising”.
He believes that rather than ban gambling sponsorship per se, what needs to be looked at is “trying to tackle the normalization of betting”.
We are staying up: In the Championship, the financial implications of trying to get into the EPL, or indeed simply to survive, are felt even harder. It is unlikely the EFL will follow the EPL’s lead in banning gambling sponsors, given that it has just signed a five-year extension to its title sponsorship partnership with Sky Bet for a reported £73m, the largest such deal in UK sport.
Yet, there appears to be an increasing wariness of associations with gambling.
After its BoyleSports deal finished at the end of last season, Coventry’s owner Doug King told local media that the Sky Blues “would not be having any betting sponsors from now on”.
Likewise, Sheffield United reportedly rejected “numerous invitations to partner with gambling companies and online casinos”.
However, in League One, Blackpool recently penned a multi-year contract with LeoVegas.
“People still care about the values of their club,” says Cloake. But if you ban gambling sponsors “where do you replace that money?”
Red card: While campaigners had called on the government to ban gambling sponsorship in football, the recent White Paper stopped short of such a move, instead calling on the game to draw up its own code for socially responsible betting sponsorship.
Front-of-shirt sponsorships 2023/24
Premier League (35%): Aston Villa – BK8 (new), Bournemouth – defabet, Brentford – Hollywoodbets (extended), Burnley – W88 (new), Everton – Stake.com, Fulham – SBOTOP (new), West Ham – Betway
Championship (21%): Middlesbrough – Unibet, Southampton – Sportsbet.io, Stoke City – bet365, Sunderland – Spreadex, Watford – MrQ
League One (4%): Blackpool – LeoVegas (new)
Netherlands updates
LeoVegas has returned to the Dutch market, but Betsson said it has pulled its application.
Guess who’s back: Dutch regulatory authority KSA (Kansspelautoriteit) has approved a five-year license for LeoVegas, via the 21 Heads Up arm of the casino, live casino and sports-betting group.
LeoVegas, along with several other big names, quit the Netherlands market in 2021 when the country’s licensing scheme began.
Many are still to return, having complained of the complexities of the process.
“We are thrilled to look to the future and fully focus on resuming our Dutch journey,” said Gustaf Hagman, LeoVegas CEO.
Orange is the new black: Separately, Betsson confirmed today that it had pulled its application for a license in the Netherlands. During its Q2 earnings call, CEO Pontus Lindwall said the decision was because of “significant delays” in the application process.
“The group will still maintain the possibility of reapplying for a license in the future,” he added.
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Italian progress
A bill to overhaul gambling regulation in Italy is making its way through parliament, but real reform could be three years away (at least).
Italian job: The Chamber of Deputies has approved a bill that promises to resolve existing issues, harmonize rules across regions and strengthen player protections, SBC News reported. Lawmakers hope to secure an agreement before the summer break in August.
Implementation could take up to two years, and will be followed by an additional year for setting up the new licensing regime.
The Italian market will continue to operate under the current state gaming system, with oversight from Italy’s police.
However, uniform rules applicable to all regions will be set down, including distances for shops from schools, hospitals and other sensitive areas, maximum limits on stakes and winnings, and age limits on sports betting.
The average lifespan of an Italian government since 1945 is 1.11 years.
European notebook
Ireland: The newest version of the Gambling Regulation Bill appeared on July 12, with the proposed blackout of ads still inside the legislation. Industry bodies and broadcasters, including the racing sector, are pushing hard to have the amendment dropped.
If enacted, a watershed ban on gambling advertising would kick in for radio and television between 5.30am and 9pm.
Electronic communications including video sharing, text message, email and social media are also included.
Fines and up to five years jail time awaits anyone convicted of a summary breach of the law.
Germany: The Berlin Administrative Court has dismissed a legal challenge filed by operators to a 2020 law that requires at least 500m distance between gaming halls and betting shops in Berlin, according to iGaming Business.
Operators had argued the law disproportionately favors gaming halls and limits them from setting up sports-betting outlets in violation of EU law.
They claimed the distance requirement would do little to protect the vulnerable from gambling harm.
The court ruled that individual jurisdictions are authorized by EU law to develop their own gambling policy and that the distance requirement was a reasonable means to the government’s end.
Sports integrity notebook
IBIA: The integrity report for the second quarter detailed 50 incidents of suspicious betting activity reported to the relevant authorities, an increase of 4% on the revised Q1 figure of 48 alerts.
It represents a decline of 44% on the 90 alerts reported in Q2 2022.
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