Gov. Janet Mills signed Maine’s sports betting bill in 2022. The substance of the legislation created a compromise which let tribes oversee the online market, according to the Bangor Daily News.
While the online component has moved along since then, in-person sports betting has languished, and State Senator Joe Baldacci is not happy about it. He spilled out his frustration over the delays in a letter to Maine Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milt Champion.
Baldacci pushed through an amendment to the 2022 law which let Hollywood Casino Bangor operate in-person sports betting.
Sports betting launched in November 2023, and in the first four months, the handle exceeded $126 million. DraftKings dominated the online market through their deal with the Passamaquoddy tribe. The legislature’s fiscal office predicted the online market would generate 85 percent of the wagers.
Casinos and off-track betting would gobble up the rest.
Baldacci called it “both surprising and unacceptable that not a single retail operator has commenced operations,” he wrote to Champion. “The regulatory framework implemented by your office has proven excessively burdensome.”
He complained that Champion did not respond to his concerns, but the Gambling Control Board did. The board regulates slots and table games in casinos, while Champion handles sports betting. The industry attempted to convince Champion to accelerate rule adoption. Baldacci also questioned why surveillance for in-person operators carried tougher conditions than for digital operators.
Gene Johnson, executive vice president of Victor-Strategies consultants, reported other states on average take almost six months to launch in-person sports betting.
“There is no way this process should have taken so long,” Johnson told the Daily News.
Officials with the Hollywood Casino Bangor will talk with any party to move the process along.
“We greatly appreciate Sen. Baldacci’s efforts to bring sports betting to Maine and his continued dedication to the people and business community in the greater Bangor area,” Austin Muchemore, vice president and general manager, said in a statement.
