Main sports betting nears the finish line

The wait for sports betting enthusiasts in Maine is almost over.

According to Milton Champion, head of the state’s gambling enforcement unit, anyone 21 and older in Pine Tree State can start retail and online sports betting between November 5 and 15. The exact date will be based on the date the Attorney General’s Office completes its final legal review of the proposed adoption rules. The Champion will then forward the findings to the Secretary of State’s office, and once the office has completed its approval of the adopted rules, it can begin gambling in Maine.

Asked if there would be a soft launch for retail and online sports betting as in other states, Champion told Casino City: “Operators will be able to go live with a temporary license issued on the day of adoption.” 슬롯머신

Despite the fact that Churchill Downs Corporation operates Oxford Casino, while PEN Entertainment manages Hollywood Casino, each operator still has to submit a license application. According to Champion, “It will be reviewed separately in relation to operators overseeing sports betting for the business.”

For mobile sports betting, four tribes – the Arrostock Band of Mimax, the Holton Band of Malissette Indians, the Penopscot Nation and the Pasama Quadi Tribe – own exclusive rights to all online betting under a bill signed by Gov. Janet Mills in May 2022. Currently, the first three tribes are known to partner with Caesars Sportsbook to handle all bets, and according to the champion, it is currently unknown which operators will be paired with the Pasama Quadi tribe.

So far, Pioneer Gaming, which operates off-track betting facilities in Waterville and Sanford, is the only business to submit a retail permit application, while Caesars Entertainment and BetMGM are the only online applicants.

There is no deadline for a business operator to submit a license request. Retail operators will have to pay $4,000 in initial commission for their licenses, and online operators will have to pay $200,000.

Under Maine’s rules, bettors are not allowed to bet on college teams in the state, regardless of whether the bet is made in person or on a mobile device.

Retail and online sports betting are expected to be important revenue producers for the state.

“The 2017 Oxford Economics analysis shows the estimate is $3.8 million to $6.9 million,” said the champion of the report commissioned by the American Game Association.

Maine will join Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island as New England states that currently allow legal sports betting. Vermont legalized sports betting in June 2023 and is expected to run in 2024.

When asked which state in New England is modeling Maine itself on how to conduct retail and online sports betting, Champion said, “We’ve applied the rules in six to eight states across the country, including Colorado, Tennessee, West Virginia, Ohio, Michigan, Montana, Wyoming and Mississippi.”