Maine in the frame

Maine launch, Seminole launch, Playtech’s Mexican battle, UK affordability petition +More

Compliance+More

Nov 02, 2023

Good morning. On today’s agenda:

Maine is set to launch OSB operations on Friday.
The Seminole sets a December date for retail betting in Florida.
Playtech goes to war in its Mexican dispute.
UK racing launches a petition against affordability checks.
BettingJobs’ Jobsboard includes AML & KYC analyst and risk manager roles.

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The Maine event

Maine sports betting could go live tomorrow.

On the hop: The Tuesday announcement caught most by surprise, as there was little warning, and little opportunity (two days) for operators to ramp up towards launch. “Licensed operators and their management service providers and suppliers will be able to start pre-launch advertising to accept registrations and account deposits up to the go-live date,” Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said in a press release.

The announcement was surprising, but it didn’t exactly come out of nowhere.
Milton Champion, head of the Maine Gambling Control Unit, has repeatedly said the only remaining hurdle was for the Maine Department of Public Safety’s Gambling Control Unit to adopt the sports-wagering rules.
He expected that to occur sometime in November.
“When the rules become adopted, I will issue [the gaming] licensees that day, and [companies] can go live anytime they want to," Champion said in September.

May the fourth be with you: With a population of 1.3 million, Maine will be a small market. The state limited mobile-betting licenses to four, one for each of the state’s tribes. Each of Maine’s four tribes were allowed to partner with a single online operator.

Caesars has inked agreements with three of the four, the Penobscot Nation, Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians and Mi’kmaq.
The fourth tribe, the Passamaquoddy, were (publicly) partnerless until Tuesday, when it was announced they had reached an agreement in principle to partner with DraftKings.

Happy together: “Building a relationship with the Passamaquoddy Tribe is a fantastic opportunity for DraftKings, as we look to bring customers in the state of Maine safe and legal sports betting,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said.

“We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Maine Gambling Control Unit as we become the official mobile sports-betting provider of the Passamaquoddy Tribe.”
The agreement with DraftKings is subject to licensing and regulatory approvals, which means DraftKings will not be part of Friday’s launch.
With DraftKings needing to go through the licensing process, Mainers will have three different sites to choose from on launch day, but each will be powered by Caesars.
The two land-based casinos in the state can apply for a retail sports-betting license. One is operated by Churchill Downs and the other by Penn Entertainment.

I’m not looking for New England: The announcement by DraftKings has the company in a very dominant position in the northeast, with a near stranglehold on the New England sports-betting market. DraftKings has an online monopoly in New Hampshire and will be part of a duopoly in Maine. It’s also one of three licensees in Connecticut.

DraftKings has a dominant market share (more than 50%) in its home state of Massachusetts.
It was one of five bidders for a Vermont sports-betting license.
Rhode Island is the only New England market devoid of DraftKings. RI is a lottery-run monopoly, managed by IGT.

Don’t pick on me: the launch announcement comes in the wake of the state issuing a $400,000 fine to Underdog Fantasy for regulatory violations stemming from the company’s pick’em games. “This is the first of its kind and is setting a precedent,” Champion told Legal Sports Report. “It sets the tone going forward, but any other violations will be looked at separately.”

As it has elsewhere, Underdog disputes the claim.
“This is just an initial step in the administrative process, and we now have the opportunity to be heard by the state in the coming weeks and look forward to receiving a final decision that ultimately agrees with our interpretation of Maine law,” it said.

Mountain problems: Meanwhile, the Colorado Division of Gaming is accepting public comments on proposed rules for fantasy sports until Friday, Among the changes is a rule that could outlaw pick’em style contests

Seminole launch

Launch pad: As per Earnings+More this morning, the Seminole tribe has announced it will launch retail betting across all its six properties in Florida in early December, starting with the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Hollywood, the Seminole Classic Casino Hollywood and the Seminole Casino Coconut Creek in south Florida.

They will be followed by the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Tampa, the Seminole Casino Hotel Immokalee and Seminole Casino Brighton.
As is allowed by the 2021 compact agreement, the tribe will also add craps and roulette to its properties’ offerings.
The release doesn’t mention OSB operations. However, a post on X from Fox Sports talk show host Andy Slater suggested that launch could come prior to retail, within two to three weeks.

History boys: The launch comes despite the ongoing lawsuit over the legality of the compact, which is currently in front of the US Supreme Court. Axios reported Nova Southeastern University law professor Bob Jarvis as saying "there really never was any dispute over the tribe’s right to have in-person sports betting”.

“The tribe is unlikely to start mobile sports betting until all the pending litigation, in both federal and state court, is over,” he told the news site.

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Playtech’s Mexican battle

See you in courts: Playtech has issued its belated response to partner Caliplay’s legal action in Mexico, saying the proceedings “contravene the contractual agreements” signed between the two back in 2014, in particular that any disputes should be resolved through the English courts.

Playtech noted that since the Mexican court said it accepted jurisdiction over the dispute, revenues from the JV for August and September have now been paid into a court-mandated trust account.

The company said in order to protect its position and ultimately progress towards a resolution of the dispute, it had taken the following steps:

In England, it has applied for and obtained interim anti-suit injunctions against Caliplay. “These injunctions compel Caliplay to stop taking any further steps in the Mexico proceedings, as litigation should not have been commenced in that jurisdiction,” the statement tagged.
In Mexico, PT Services Malta has obtained separate interim measures from a Mexico court ordering Caliplay to discontinue the case it commenced in the country against the relevant Playtech entities, so that the dispute can be resolved in the appropriate and agreed forum in England.
Those measures also include orders for Caliplay to comply with the terms of the framework agreement between the parties (which contains most of the provisions that had been suspended by the Mexican court).

Naughty steps: Playtech added it would “continue to take such other steps as it considers necessary to enforce its rights under its agreements with Caliplay and to lift the interim measures obtained by Caliplay”.

“Caliplay remains a highly important customer for Playtech, and the company is determined to resolve this matter as quickly as possible,” it added.
“In order to do so, Playtech is committed to maintaining an open dialogue with Caliplay to discuss a path forward.”

Notebook

Betfred ASA ruling

Ringside: The UK’s ad authority has once again stepped in over social media posts from gambling operators that it feels breach the rules over having a strong appeal to under-18s. This time it is Betfred that the ASA says has crossed the line, with three tweets from pro boxer Anthony Joshua.

Seconds out: Betfred has rejected the finding that Joshua appealed to children, calling the decision unjust, and said it will demand an independent review.
The tweets in question featured Joshua discussing his preparations ahead of a bout with Jermaine Franklin in April.

New York casino race

Race is run: Vornado Realty Trust, which had previously been linked with Rush Street Gaming with regard to a bid for one of the three New York downstate casino licenses, has pulled out of the race.

“It’s highly likely that we will not pursue the casino license,” CEO Steven Roth told analysts on the company’s Q3 earnings call.
The long short list: The news winnows down a list that includes bids, real or rumored, from Las Vegas Sands, Bally’s, MLB New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, Mohegan and Soloviev Group, Saks Fifth Avenue, MGM Resorts, Wynn Resorts, Silverstein Properties and Greenwood Gaming, Hard Rock and Genting Malaysia.

Pennsylvania skill-games bill: Legislation to ban so-called skill games in the Keystone State has been introduced in both the state Senate and the state House. The bills would amend existing state criminal statutes to deem the skill-game machines as slot machines, thus making them illegal without proper licensing.

The legislators noted that 2017 amendments to the Gaming Act expanded the definition of a slot machine to include all forms of skill games.
According to existing state statute, slot machines are illegal in Pennsylvania unless they fit within certain narrow exceptions.
Skill-game operator Pace-O-Matic has argued the games are legal, pointing to several state court rulings in their favor.

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UK affordability petition

Not taking it anymore: UK racing has launched a petition calling on the government to call a halt to the planned implementation of affordability checks, saying the measures being proposed are “inappropriate and discriminatory”.

People power: As of Thursday morning, the petition was closing in on the 10k signatures needed to force the government to respond.
If 100k were reached it would mean the petition would be considered for debate in parliament.

Racing Post editor Tom Kerr took to the pages of his own newspaper to argue why UK horseracing punters should sign the petition, saying affordability checks are an attack on our civil liberties, could cause “catastrophic damage to racing” and won’t necessarily help prevent problem gambling.

Recall, last week at the Reputation Matters event in London, ex-BHA chief Nick Rust said affordability checks posed an “existential threat” to UK horseracing.

UKGC commissioners

New brooms: The UK Gambling Commission has appointed seven new commissioners, including the chair of an anti-corruption charity. Charles Counsell, Helen Dodds, Sheree Howard and Claudia Mortimore have been appointed for terms of five years. Lloydette Bai-Marrow, Helen Philips and David Rossington have been appointed for four years.

The great and the good:

Bai-Marrow is an anti-corruption expert and economic crime lawyer and was the founding partner at Parametric Global Consulting, an economic crime investigations consultancy.
Counsell was formerly CEO at the Pensions Regulator from April 2019 to March 2023.
Dodds is an international lawyer, consultant and board member.
Howard has over 25 years’ experience in the UK financial services industry, with knowledge of the process of regulation and a key focus on risk management, audit and controls.
Mortimore has over 25 years’ experience of criminal law and regulation. Since 2013 she has worked in senior positions in the Enforcement Division of the Financial Reporting Council.
Philips is an experienced executive and non-executive, with a career spanning the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. Her current non-executive appointments include chair of NHS Professionals.
Rossington is a former senior civil servant who worked at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Irish ad issues

Flutter’s UK and Ireland CEO Ian Brown has told the Racing Post that changes to domestic gaming regulations could trigger a “spiral of decline” from which Irish racing may never recover if a proposed bill passes in its current form.

Though Flutter supports many of the provisions in the bill, Brown said new restrictions on TV advertising and inducements and stricter spending limits risk sending thousands of people to the black market.
The bill has been in the report stage in the lower house of the Irish legislature since July.
It includes a ban on gambling ads between 5:30am and 9pm.

Stake limits will lead tax revenue to decline because the number of people betting on racing will decline; and with corresponding rising cost pressures and TV blackouts it could further erode the industry, Brown said.