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An Act To Permit the Sharing of Revenue from the Sale of Alcoholic Beverages at Sporting Events
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 28-A MRSA §605, first ¶, as amended by PL 2013, c. 345, §2, is further amended to read:
Except as otherwise provided in this section and section 608, noa license or any interest in a license may not be sold, transferred, assigned or otherwise subject to control by any person other than the licensee. If the business, or any interest in the business, in connection with which a licensed activity is conducted is sold, transferred or assigned, the license holder shall immediately send to the bureau the license and a sworn statement showing the name and address of the purchaser. The bureau is not required to refund any portion of the licensee fee if the license is surrendered before it expires. For the purposes of this section, a tenant brewer who is licensed in accordance with section 1355-A, subsection 6 is not considered to be subject to the control of the host brewer, as described in that subsection, or considered to have been transferred or assigned the license or interest in the license of the host brewer.
Sec. 2.  28-A MRSA §608  is enacted to read:
§ 608. Civic auditoriums with professional sporting events; revenues from the sale of liquor
A civic auditorium licensed to sell liquor for on-premises consumption may enter into an agreement to share revenue from the sale of liquor with a professional sports team not licensed under this Title if the following conditions are met.
 
1.  Capacity.     The civic auditorium has a capacity to seat at least 3,000 people.
 
2.  Civic auditorium is designated host facility.     The civic auditorium is the designated host facility for the professional sports team. For the purposes of this subsection, "designated host facility" means a civic auditorium where a professional sports team conducts at least 75% of its sporting events as the home team in the competition.
 
3.  Minimum number of sporting events.     The professional sports team schedules and conducts regular sporting events on no fewer than 15 calendar days at the civic auditorium during a 12-month period.
 
4.  Revenues from sporting events only.     Revenues to be shared between the civic auditorium and the professional sports team are limited to revenues from the sale of liquor sold at the time of sporting events conducted by that professional sports team.
 
5.  Application.     The civic auditorium discloses any agreement with a professional sports team permitted under this section when submitting an application for a liquor license as required by section 651, subsection 2.
 
SUMMARY
This bill creates an exception to the law that prohibits a liquor license from being sold, assigned or subject to the control of a person other than the licensee. The bill allows a civic auditorium that holds a liquor license and serves as the designated host facility for a professional sports team to enter into an agreement to share the proceeds from the sale of alcoholic beverages sold in conjunction with the professional team’s sporting events. In order to qualify for this exception, the civic auditorium must have the capacity to seat at least 3,000 people.