An Act To License Betting on Football Score Pools
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17 MRSA §1847 is enacted to read:
§ 1847. Pools for football score wagers
1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, "football score pool" means a contest where a person pays a fixed entry price as a wager on the score of a professional football game. A person wins by coming the closest to or matching the score submitted with the entry fee to the actual score of the football game for which the person submitted the wager. The entry fees received as wagers for a football score pool, less any operator fee under subsection 3, are awarded as a prize to the winner or divided equally among multiple winners.
2. Football score pools authorized. Notwithstanding any provision of this Title or Title 17-A to the contrary, the Chief of the State Police may issue a license to operate a football score pool to a person licensed to serve alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption under Title 28-A in accordance with this section. A person who wishes to conduct a football score pool must submit an application for licensure under this section to the Chief of the State Police in a manner prescribed by the Chief of the State Police.
3. Operator fee. A person licensed to conduct a football score pool may retain an operator fee in an amount up to 20% of the total entry fees received for that football score pool.
4. License fee; records and materials. The fee for a license to operate a football score pool in accordance with this section is $50 per calendar year. A license permits an operator to conduct up to 100 football score pools during a calendar year. Materials used to conduct a football score pool must be provided by a licensed printer or distributor as described by section 1840. A person licensed to conduct a football score pool shall maintain records detailing the entry fees, prizes and operator fees for each football score pool conducted for a period of 3 years from the date of the football score pool and shall make those records available for inspection by the Chief of the State Police.
summary
This bill authorizes the Chief of the State Police to issue a license to operate football score pools. A person licensed to sell alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption is eligible for a football score pool license. The fee for a football score pool license is $50 per calendar year. A football score pool operator may retain an operator fee in an amount up to 20% of the total entry fees received for that football score pool.