Steven Owens voted Yea (Passage) on this Legislation.
Title: Authorizes the Legalization of Sports Betting
Vote to pass a bill that authorizes the legalization and regulation of sports betting.
Specifies a person or entity that offers fantasy contests for a cash prize to members of the public may offer a fantasy contest to residents of the commonwealth according to regulations promulgated by the attorney general; provided further, a fantasy contest will not be considered illegal gaming (Sec. 2).
Requires the State Lottery Commission to do the following (Sec. 4.e):
Determine the eligibility of a person to hold or continue to hold a license;
Issue all licenses; and
Maintain a record of all licenses issued under this law. The commission may accept applications, evaluate qualifications of applicants, undertake an initial review of licenses and issue temporary licenses.
Authorizes category 1 or category 2 licensee to enter into agreements related to mobile or digital sports wagering with a category 3 licensee according to the approval of the commission (Sec. 6-4).
Requires the commission to consider the overall reputation of the applicant including, the following in evaluating the suitability of the applicant (Sec. 6-4-3.d):
The integrity, honesty, good character, and reputation of the applicant;
The financial stability, integrity, and background of the applicant;
The business practices and the business ability of the applicant to establish and maintain a successful sports wagering operation;
Whether the applicant has a history of compliance with gaming or sports wagering licensing requirements in other jurisdictions;
Whether the applicant, at the time of application, is a defendant in litigation involving its business practices; and
The suitability of all parties in interest to the license, including affiliates and close associates and the financial resources of the applicant.
Requires all persons employed by an operator to perform duties directly related to the operation of sports wagering in the commonwealth in a supervisory role to maintain a valid occupational license issued by the commission. The commission will issue such occupational licenses to a person who meets the requirements of this law (Sec. 8.a).
Requires sports wagering operators to employ commercially reasonable methods to (Sec. 11.a):
Prohibit the operator, directors, officers, owners, and employees of the operator, and any relative living in the same household as such persons, from placing bets with the operator;
Prohibit athletes, coaches, referees, team owners, employees of a sports governing body or its member teams and player and referee union personnel from wagering on any sporting event of their sport’s governing body;
Prohibit any individual with access to non-public confidential information held by the operator from placing wagers with the operator;
Prohibit persons from placing wagers as agents or proxies for others; and
Maintain the security of wagering data, customer data, and other confidential information from unauthorized access and dissemination;
Requires sports wagering operators to immediately report to the commission any information relating to (Sec. 11-5.e):
Criminal or disciplinary proceedings commenced against the sports wagering operator in connection with its operations;
Abnormal betting activity or patterns that may indicate a concern with the integrity of a sporting event or events;
Any potential breach of the internal rules and codes of conduct about sports wagering of a relevant sports governing body;
Any other conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of a sporting event or events for purposes of financial gain, including, but not limited to, match-fixing; and
Suspicious or illegal wagering activities, including, but not limited to:
Use of funds derived from illegal activity;
Wagers to conceal or launder funds derived from illegal activity;
Use of agents to place wagers; and
Use of false identification.
Requires the commission to establish a list of self-excluded persons from sports wagering. A person may request their name to be placed on the list of self-excluded persons by filing a statement with the commission acknowledging that they are a problem gambler and by agreeing that, during any period of voluntary exclusion, they shall not collect any winnings or recover any losses resulting from any sports wagering (Sec. 13-2).
Title: Authorizes the Legalization of Sports Betting