As 2023 comes to a close, Maine’s sports betting market is starting to heat up. That is because most of the year the state has been working to launch sports betting after legislation was signed last year. Finally, in November, Mainers are starting to see the fruits of that decision.
But the path for operators to finally open in the Pine Tree State was not without some newsworthy moments.
See also: Sports Betting in Pennsylvania in 2023
Early stumbling blocks
In January 2023, the state’s Gambling Control Unit released the rules for interested sportsbooks who sought to enter their market. Most regulations were identical with other betting states, (internal controls, advertising language, age restrictions, etc). They charged mobile operators $210,000 for a license and $45,000 for retail operators, although terms were not finalized.
But by April, the state received zero applicants, not even from DraftKings and FanDuel, who are found in every betting state.
“I don’t know what those reasons are,” Maine Gambling Control Unit commissioner Milton Champion said.
One possible reason was that the regulatory language was yet to be finished.
Then, after formally codifying their regulations (months later), Maine finally saw some action, although it was nothing like the competitive markets most betting states created. Maine allowed their four tribal casinos to partner with a mobile sportsbook. Caesars Sportsbook made the first move and signed deals with three of them. In late October, DraftKings partnered with the last casino, giving those living in Maine two betting options.
See also: 10 Predictions, Bold and Otherwise, About Sports Betting in 2024
Sports betting goes live
Soon after, on Nov. 3, Maine officially launched sports betting. And, after the month was over, the Pine Tree State announced $37.6 million in wagers. DraftKings saw the majority of the action ($30.5 million) while Caesars was a distant second at $7 million. Revenue wise, DraftKings made $4.2 million and Caesars just $380,000, together these sportsbooks held just over 11% of the action.
Earlier this year, the state expected between $3.8 million and $6.9 million in tax revenue annually with the launch of sports betting, and with November’s $460,000 tax bill, everything looks to be running as expected.
As of Dec. 19, DraftKings had taken in $20.8 million in wagers in the month and paid out $17.8 million to winning bettors. Caesars took $4.7 million in wagers over those 19 days and paid out $4.5 million.
After a strong start to legalized sports betting, the state is expecting even bigger things in 2024.
“People bet on other things [like] maybe golf or something like that,” Champion said, according to NHPR. “But the Super Bowl and March Madness are the two key times for sports wagering, so we’ll have to wait and see how they work out.”
