Maine Reports Respectable First Month of Legal Sports Betting

The state of Maine welcomed legal mobile sports betting on November 3 and has since enjoyed relative success for their platform.

Regulators in the state gave us a glimpse of what to expect with an earnings report after five days of legal sports wagering action in the state. A $5.4 million handle for the five-day period was reported.

The Maine Gambling Control Unit released its November monthly revenue report on Monday, and by all accounts, the overall state handle and revenue was respectable.

Despite being one of the smallest legal sports betting jurisdictions in the country with just 1.36 million residents, Maine bettors came out in droves to take advantage of a full NFL and college football schedule, as well as the early parts of both the NBA and NHL 2023-2024 campaigns.

The Pine Tree State became the fifth state to launch a legal sports betting platform this year.

Month 1 sees $37.6 million

Sports bettors in the Pine Tree State spent a total of $37.6 million with the Maine sports betting apps and the state's retail providers. While not anywhere close to the wagering activity of some of the top-dog states, it is important to remember that Maine ranks 42nd in terms of population among U.S. states.

The Maine Gambling Control Unit is the only jurisdiction in the country that produces daily logs for their sports betting providers. It gives not only regulators but also the gambling public a glimpse into just which days dominated the sports betting activity calendar during November.

To nobody's surprise, it was Saturdays and Sundays that saw the most wagering action. Sunday, November 26 was the biggest betting day reported in November. Sundays during the month accounted for just over 23% of the overall wagering activity that DraftKings saw during the 30-day period.

Thanksgiving was the only non-Sunday that registered as one of the top-4 wagering days during November.

The total revenues for state providers in November came out to $4.6 million thanks to a sportsbook-friendly 12.2% hold rate. With a 10% tax rate on such revenues, $460,000 in taxes were paid by operators to needy state and local tax coffers.

Caesars, DraftKings only games in town

So far, Caesars Maine – in partnership with the Wabanaki Nations – and DraftKings Maine, which has partnered with the Passamaquoddy Tribe, are the only Maine sportsbooks taking action.

DraftKings was the overwhelming choice of Maine bettors in November. Bettors spent $30.4 million with the U.S. betting behemoth. Adjusted gross receipts of $4.3 million came from its November handle.

Caesars Maine was responsible for $7.05 million in bets during November. Net Revenues for Caesars Maine came in at $383K.

By all accounts...

The first month of legal sports betting in Maine was a success. Betting activity was relatively strong despite the lack of a professional sports team calling the Pine Tree State home and its small population.

There were no major glitches or unflattering reviews of the platform during the month.

Expect DraftKings' and Caesars' success to possibly create a run of new sportsbook providers to partner with one of Maine's tribes with the purposes of offering their own sports betting opportunities.

Maine regulators will be looking to add to the family going forward, and a strong first month of action could aid them in their search.