The Maine Gambling Control Unit (MGCU) announced sportsbooks accepted $52.7 million in bets in December. The 1.5% increase may not be a lot but while several states saw their December handle fall, Maine easily took a slight increase. Books paid $417,000 in taxes for the month from those wagers.
| Operator | Betting Handle | Gross Revenue |
| Caesars Retail Sportsbooks | $452,000 | $17,000 |
| DraftKings Mobile Sportsbook | $44.7 million | $3.4 million |
| Caesars Mobile Sportsbook | $7.6 million | $500,000 |
| Total | $52.7 million | $3.9 million |
Caesars chugging along
Maine has only two legal sportsbooks, Caesars and DraftKings. However, DraftKings has been bettors' first choice since wagering launched. In the full year 2024, DK's handle was nearly six times above Caesars. On the revenue side, DraftKings' adjusted gross receipts were an even greater eight times higher.
With all that out of the way, Caesars can end the year with some optimism. DraftKings’ handle was unchanged month-over-month, and it hasn't seen a growth in wagers since September. Caesars on the other hand is enjoying three months straight of increased handle.
2024 at a glance
In the past 12 months Caesars mobile book reported $77.2 million in wagers and turned that into $6.1 million in gross revenue, with a 7.9% hold.
DraftKings enjoyed a much higher share of $445.7 million in bets and after adjustments held $49 million, a much more industry friendly 11%.
Revenue has been a sticking point these past couple months as books complained about bettors increasing their winning percentage. Maine has dealt with this since June and books have struggled to find some sort of consistency.
One month up, one month down has been the pattern since the summer. October was the worst not only because revenue decreased but the NFL season is the best time of the year to grow the bottom line. December wasn’t much better as revenue fell from $8 million in November to just under $4 million last month. Operators certainly hope playoff football in January can turn things around.
