Maine regulators are not budging from their expectations for a November start date for legal sports betting in the New England state.
Comments made recently by the executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit suggest the state continues to eye the launch of sports betting sites sometime in early to mid-November.
A November launch has long been the expected, although the exact timeline remains a bit murky. Maine sports betting rules are being vetted by the state attorney general’s office, an approval regulators need before they allow bookmakers to start taking action.
"Once they've approved it, then I will forward it to the Secretary of State's office," Milt Champion, executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit, told Maine Public Radio. "They typically take three to five business days and then once [the Secretary of State's office] posts the adopted rules on their website, then then we go live."
A long time coming
Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed sports betting-related legislation into law in May 2022.
While in-person wagering will be permitted at casinos and off-track betting facilities, online sports gambling is the exclusive domain of the state’s four federally recognized Native American tribes, who are allowed to partner with mobile operators such as Caesars Sportsbook.
Caesars is the partner of three tribes, but a fourth, the Passamaquoddy, has yet to announce a service provider. Wagering will be restricted to those 21 and older in the state, and betting on the games of Maine colleges is forbidden.
"May," not will
Champion told Covers in an email that Maine "may" launch legal sports betting in November, and that the attorney general's office must complete its review of the rules before then.
However, the director added that "we do not anticipate any changes significantly enough to warrant re-publication" of the rules, which would delay the launch further.
