The state of sports betting could be in further peril as no sportsbook operators have applied for a license. That, along with rules revisions, could push the launch date to the end of the year.
If that happens, the state would miss most of the NFL regular season, one of the busiest times for sportsbooks.
Milt Champion, executive director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit (MGCU), expressed concern with the sportsbook operators, who are apparently taking a “wait and see” attitude in regards to applying for licenses.
Champion told the Press Herald that he has himself and two other staff members, and that could put a burden on the Gaming Control Unit if license applications come later in the year.
“The applications are out there, and I’d really like to see people that are going to do business in Maine start to fill out and reach out to us and communicate with us, and let’s get these applications in now rather than later,” Champion said.
Still, since February 14, when provisional applications were accepted, no one has turned one in.
That has forced Champion to concede that the launch of sports betting probably won’t be ready by the fall.
Complicating the launch date even further is the department’s process of revising the rules for sports betting. The MGCU received 581 written comments regarding the initial set of proposed rules. Champion said he, and two other people have to sift through the responses and then write the next round of rules. Champion estimated they would be disclosed in either late April or early May.
“I would say the timeline’s been moved up to, instead of April to January 2024, say October 2023 to January 2024. That would be the new window,” Champion told the Press Herald. “I was really looking forward to having a soft opening in June or July, and we’ll still work towards that, but right now with what we’ve received so far, it doesn’t look like it’s a process that would be rectified in that time frame.”
Now Champion will have to study the next round of public comments and send a final draft to the attorney general for approval. The state’s Attorney General has up to four months to look at the rules. If he approves them, sports betting could be ready to launch, that is if the sportsbook operators have turned in their licenses.
Meanwhile, Maine’s native tribes, who have the rights to online sports betting, have to sit and wait while they can only lament the lost revenue. Champion estimated the state can expect to see anywhere from $3.8 to $6.9 million in taxes.
Sports betting was legalized last August.
