Though Maine’s sports betting law went into effect Monday, those wanting to place a wager in the Pine Tree State will have to wait several months — maybe even more than a year — to do so.
LD 585 opened the doors for both retail and online sportsbooks in Maine and Gov. Janet Mills signed the bill into law on May 2. Milt Champion, executive director of Maine’s Gambling Control Unit (GCU) told the Portland Press Herald, however, the state isn’t in a hurry to have sports betting and wants to make sure all the details are ironed out.
“I’m looking basically at a window between April 2023 to January 2024, just to be on the safe side of things,” Champion told the newspaper.
Maine is not expected to pull in huge amounts of revenue via legal sports betting. Champion estimates the state would see anywhere from $3.8 to $6 million annually while taxing operators 10%, much lower than the national average of 19%.
Conversely, neighboring New Hampshire reported $23.9 million in taxes for 2021. New York is the nation’s leader, but also levies a 51% tax on sportsbooks. In four months from April to July 2022, the state pulled in $183.4 million in taxes.
Hurry up and wait
Champion said it is a complex process and he wants to make sure it is done correctly. If the GCU takes until January 2024 to implement sports betting, it could be one of the longest rollouts of any of the 25 states that offer either retail, online or both types of wagering on sports.
Maryland legalized sports betting in November 2020 and six retail sportsbooks are operational, but the online component is still months away from launching, according to officials at Maryland Lottery and Gaming.
Kansas, which legalized sports betting on July 1, expects to go live in time for the NFL regular season in September. Kansas gaming officials have said recently, however, that may be overly optimistic and a more realistic date would be November or December.
Champion said Maine is not stalling on launching sports betting but he told the Associated Press that he wants to ensure there are no complications.
“This is not an easy process,” Champion said. “We’re not trying to put this off. We just want to do it right.”
Big win for Native American Tribes
There are four Native American Tribes in the state and all of them have exclusive access to an online license. They will pay a $200,000 fee for the license, which is good for four years. They will then partner with a company such as DraftKings or BetMGM to be the operator and would pay an additional $40,000.
The tribes also won a key provision in LD 585, easing their tax burden while creating a new, more streamlined process for state and tribal collaboration.
The tribes will be the only entity to offer online sports betting, but several brick-and-mortar facilities will have the opportunity to provide retail sports wagering.
The state’s two casinos — Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway and Oxford Casino — can have a retail site for a $4,000 license fee that is good for four years. Maine also has six off-track betting sites that can vie for four of the remaining retail licenses.
The law’s other provisions are setting the legal gambling age at 21 or older and not allowing wagers on any Maine university sporting events.
