Sports betting in Maine has not yet gone live, and it is expected to take at least six more months. While the state’s Gambling Control Unit continues to draft rules for how wagering will operate, the head of the commission, Milt Champion, is urging interested sports betting providers to apply for licenses as soon as possible. He is worried that delaying the process of applying for licenses could further push back the estimated launch date of sports betting in Maine.
Although the provisional applications for sports betting licenses were made available on February 14, no applications have been submitted yet. Champion is encouraging sports betting providers to reach out to his office and start filling out applications sooner rather than later. The executive director expects that sports betting will not be operational until the fall.
The Gambling Control Unit is currently in the process of revising the sports betting rules following 581 written comments received after the first draft was published in January. The next draft of rules is expected to be ready in late April or early May, and it will be open to public comment. The rules will be revised again at least once more by Champion’s office before being sent to the Maine Attorney General’s office for approval. Once approved, sports wagering will finally go live.
Maine joined dozens of states allowing sports betting last spring when Governor Janet Mills signed a bill passed by the legislature. The sports gaming law went into effect on August 8. Champion had previously estimated that the state would earn between $3.8 million to $6.9 million annually from sports betting.
The Indigenous tribes in Maine have exclusive rights to the online sports betting market, which accounted for 87% of bets nationally in 2021, according to the American Gaming Association. As many as ten in-person retail sites for sports betting will also be available. Both the tribes and the retail sites negotiate their own deals with providers, which must be approved by Champion.