Maine Lawmakers Advance Sports Betting Bill

The House of Representatives in Maine advanced a bill to legalize sports betting and grant exclusive rights to conduct mobile gambling to the state’s indigenous tribes. 

https://twitter.com/RLinnehanXl/status/1515056153427947525

Democratic Governor Janet Mills is seeking to update a 40-year-old compact with the Wabanaki tribes, which would also grant them four mobile sports betting licenses. 

However, Senator Joseph Baldacci also unveiled an alternative proposal that would grant mobile gambling licenses to Maine’s two casinos in Oxford and Bangor and the Wabanaki tribes.

Check out the latest comprehensive and most trusted Sportsbook Reviews by SBR here.

The two casinos want to have full sports betting privileges with both retail and online sportsbooks, and with Baldacci’s amendment, that would be possible. The amendment would also require six percent of all mobile sportsbook revenue to go to the Wabanaki tribes. 

Baldacci estimates the six percent would be between $2 and $3 million per year.

The bill could be voted on by the Senate next week. 

RELATED: Maine Inching Closer to Legal Sports Betting

New Hampshire is the only state bordering Maine, and it has legal sports wagering. However, New Hampshire doesn’t have any commercial or tribal casinos, so its sports betting market is almost exclusively online.

Maine’s 2022 State Legislature is set to conclude Wednesday, April 20, so the odds of legalized sports betting coming to The Pine Tree State this year appear quite long.

Make sure to keep an eye on our Live Odds page throughout the week to get the best lines possible and connect with others in the SBR community on our popular sports betting forum.