It was unclear on Tuesday by how much Maine’s sports betting rollout, which has been planned for more than a year, will be extended now that the head of the Gambling Control Unit has been furloughed.
Milt Champion
Milt Champion, chief executive of the agency, was placed on paid leave last week after he recently posted tweets containing sexist language and racist connotations.
In an interview with the Press Herald last week, Champion expressed optimism that Maine sportsbook could go live in November. Champion and two other Gambling Control Unit employees wrote and revised rules for sports betting in Maine, a painstaking process that took nearly a year. His absence fuels uncertainty about the agency’s immediate efforts to prepare the state for sports betting.
“I think that’s a good question that a lot of people are asking,” said Steven Silver, the head of the state’s gaming regulatory agency. “Right now it’s really unknown. The legislature has mandated that all oversight of sports betting should be by the entity rather than the board, so it is up to the entity.”
The decision to furlough the 66-year-old champion was made last Wednesday. The Maine Department of Public Safety, which oversees the Gambling Control Unit, announced Monday that the state’s Bureau of Human Resources is conducting a review of Champion.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Janet Mills said Tuesday that the governor was unavailable for an interview about Champion’s tweets.
“The governor has a responsibility to uphold the integrity of the independent investigation being conducted by the Bureau of Human Resources by ensuring that it proceeds freely and unbiasedly by any comments it may have,” said Scott Ogden, Mills associate chief of staff for communications . “To that end, she will refrain from commenting for the time being.”
Attempts to contact Champion on Tuesday were unsuccessful. A woman answering a phone believed to be his wife’s hung up when a reporter identified himself.
Mills signed the Sports Betting Act into law on May 2, 2022. Since then, Champion and his office have drafted rules for sports betting in the state, the first draft of which was released in January and received 581 comments from the public and the gaming industry. Champion’s office released a second draft last Wednesday, open for comments until June 16th. If the comments are not substantive enough to require a third draft, they are forwarded to the Maine Attorney General’s office, where comments are available for up to 120 days to review and approve the rules.
In an interview last Wednesday, Champion expressed confidence that the rules are sound enough to pass to the attorney general and expressed optimism the state could start sports betting by Thanksgiving. When asked if Champion’s unavailability could change that schedule, Silver said it would depend on what the comments are like.
“Nothing will happen until those comments are received and of course it depends on the amount and content of those comments,” he said. “I think it’s too early to tell if there will be a delay or not.”
NEW DEPUTY DIRECTOR
Lt. Thomas Pickering of the Maine State Police, an agency of the Department of Public Safety, said Matthew Motti, deputy director of the Gambling Control Unit, will take over Champion’s duties while he is on furlough. Motti was hired last month, Silver said, and is a freshman in Maine.
“The Gambling Control Unit remains committed to implementing the law in line with the November timeframe previously discussed publicly,” Pickering wrote in an email.
Motti previously worked in Florida, where he was the lead technician for the state’s Seminole tribe, according to his LinkedIn page. According to Silver, Motti was hired to oversee sports betting and daily fantasy; He’s joining a sports betting team that, since last fall, has included sports betting inspector Kyle Bourget and chartered accountant Alex Joutov.
The Gambling Control Unit has yet to receive license applications from sportsbooks like Caesars Sportsbook, which recently partnered with three Maine indigenous tribes to operate their online betting portals. Those applications would require a lengthy review process, Champion had warned, and he fears many will be submitted just before betting is scheduled to go live in Maine.
Despite the agency’s small staffing level, Silver expressed confidence that the gaming control unit can survive in the director’s absence.
“There are dedicated staff who have a lot of experience, be it the examiner, the inspector, the manager or the deputy director,” he said. “They are well placed to conduct background checks and ensure that all applicants are eligible for a Maine license.”
Champion took over as CEO in November 2016 and was hired by the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety with the support of the Gambling Control Board. Champion is from Florida, where he held various positions in the gaming industry, including head of the state’s pari-mutuel betting department, before retiring in 2011.
This is the latest incident in which a senior state official has been furloughed after making controversial posts on social media. In January 2021, Maine Capitol Police Commissioner Russell Gauvin was placed on paid leave after posting on Facebook questioning the results of the 2020 presidential election and criticizing the COVID-19 mask requirement. He resigned three months later and received over $67,000 in severance pay.
The Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee oversees gaming legislation in Maine. Rep. Laura Supica, D-Bangor, is co-chair of the committee and told News Center Maine that she sympathized with how the Department of Public Safety dealt with Champion following the tweets.
“Personally, I support the decision to take a leave of absence,” she said. “I think the comments were sexist and racist and not representative of our values. So I think that was the right decision.”
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