Maine Reports Respectable First Month of Legal Sports Betting

Legal mobile sports betting was introduced in Maine on November 3, and the platform has seen moderate success since its launch.

State regulators provided insight into the anticipated earnings following five days of legal sports betting in the state, revealing a $5.4 million handle for the period.

On Monday, the Maine Gambling Control Unit published its November revenue report, which showed that the state’s overall handle and revenue were considered satisfactory.

Even though Maine is one of the smallest states with legal sports betting, its 1.36 million residents enthusiastically participated in wagering on a busy sports season, including NFL, college football, NBA, and NHL games in 2023-2024.

This year, the Pine Tree State became the fifth state to introduce a legal sports betting platform.

Month 1 sees $37.6 million

Maine sports bettors wagered a combined $37.6 million through the state’s sports betting apps and retail providers. Although this figure may not rival the betting activity of larger states, it is significant considering Maine’s ranking as the 42nd most populous state in the U.S.

The Maine Gambling Control Unit stands out as the sole jurisdiction in the nation that compiles daily logs for sports betting providers. These logs offer insight not only to regulators, but also to the gambling public, revealing which days were the most active for sports betting in November.

Unsurprisingly, Saturdays and Sundays were the days with the highest amount of betting activity. The biggest betting day in November was Sunday, November 26. Sundays in November made up approximately 23% of DraftKings’ total wagering activity during the month.

Thanksgiving was the only day outside of Sundays to rank among the top four days for betting in November.

State providers earned $4.6 million in total revenues in November, with a 12.2% hold rate from sportsbooks contributing to the high earnings. Operators paid $460,000 in taxes at a 10% rate, which went towards supporting state and local tax coffers in need.

Caesars, DraftKings only games in town

As of now, only Caesars Maine, in collaboration with the Wabanaki Nations, and DraftKings Maine, in partnership with the Passamaquoddy Tribe, are operating as sportsbooks in Maine.

In November, Maine bettors overwhelmingly favored DraftKings, spending a total of $30.4 million with the U.S. betting giant. Adjusted gross receipts from its November handle amounted to $4.3 million.

During November, Caesars Maine saw $7.05 million in bets and generated $383K in net revenues.

By all accounts…

Maine’s inaugural month of legal sports betting proved to be a triumph, with robust betting activity that defied expectations, despite the state’s lack of a professional sports team and relatively small population.

No significant technical issues or negative feedback were reported about the platform in the month.

Anticipate that the success of DraftKings and Caesars could lead to a surge in new sportsbook providers seeking partnerships with Maine tribes to offer their own sports betting options.

Maine regulators are seeking to expand their family and a successful first month of activity could help them in their quest.