The Maine Joint Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs has voted in favor of advancing Legislative Document 2007 to the Senate floor, possibly leading to a ban on online sweepstakes games and contests across the state.
Despite including three absentees, the Committee voted 8-2 in favor of advancing LD 2007, which looks to prohibit online sweepstakes games or contests that utilize a dual-currency payment system to simulate casino-style gaming, lottery, bingo or sports betting.
According to the state’s Gambling Control Unit and Executive Director Milton Champion, there are currently over 50 online sweepstakes operators conducting business within Maine.
Champion addressed the Joint Committee on February 18, having said, “If you’re in Maine and you go to DraftKings, immediately it pops up and says authorized by the Maine Gambling Control Unit.
“And if it doesn’t say that, then at least the consumer knows you haven’t authorized it or we haven’t authorized it, and you’re not regulating it, and therefore you go at your own peril.”
LD 2007 was originally proposed by Senator Craig Hickman in December 2025 and will now head to the Maine Senate floor for reconsiderations following the Joint Committee’s approval.
The legislation defines dual-currency payments as a system of payment which “allows a person to play or participate with direct consideration or indirect consideration.”
In related news, the Indiana Senate officially passed House Bill 1052 on February 18, which looks to ban any online game, contest or promotion that utilizes dual- or multi-currency systems of payment and lets players exchange real money for a chance to win cash or equivalent prizes.
Under the proposed legislation, state regulators would gain the ability to fine operators $100,000 in civil penalties if found to be offering sweepstakes-style games in Indiana.
Maine Governor Janet Mills signed LD 1164 into law on January 8, authorizing Tribal governments to conduct iGaming operations while generating pushback from organizations such as the NAAiG
