Maine’s Bet On Legal Sports Gambling Has Paid Off With $4.6M In Tax Revenue

Maine first launched legal sports betting on Nov. 3, 2023, and residents began placing bets via two mobile platforms contracted by the tribes. DraftKings, headquartered in Boston, operates for the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

Nevada-based Caesars Entertainment is also partnered with three Wabanaki Nations: the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Mi’kmaq Nation, and the Penobscot Nation.

Maine gamblers wagered $319.3 million via DraftKings and Caesars through the first eight months of legal sports betting

Maine is now one of 38 states, including all those in the Northeast, that allow sports betting. In the eight months since it began, the state’s legalized sports gambling market has seen short-term success.

From last November through June 30, bettors wagered a total of $319.3 million via Maine’s two legal sportsbooks — and pocketed $284.7 million in payouts, according to records from the Department of Public Safety’s Gambling Control Unit.

The biggest month of betting to date was March, when a total handle of $47.5 million was wagered. This was during the NCAA’s March Madness, a single-elimination tournament to determine the U.S. national champion of men’s college basketball.

From November through June, state tax revenue on sports betting totaled over $3.2 million. The total was $2.3 million for the first half of 2024 alone. However, state offers took in only $270,000 in March.

Pine Tree State is on pace to generate $4.6 million in tax revenue for the first full year of sports betting

According to a recent interview with Mainebiz, the Gambling Control Unit’s executive director, Milton Champion, is satisfied with Maine’s sports betting market.

Prior to launch in November, he cited a study predicting annual state revenue of $3.8 million. Another analysis projected $6 million. Maine is now on pace for $4.6 million in taxes for the first full year of sports betting, he said.

“We’re in the middle range,” he told Mainebiz recently. “Hopefully we can get a little closer to the $6 million projection. … You have winners and you have losers. And in some of those months, Mainers have been picking winners.”

Maine residents are also placing wagers on the ongoing 2024 Paris Olympics. Both DraftKings and Caesars are taking bets on the Olympic Games. According to the latest odds, Team USA is the -2,000 favorite to win the most medals and -550 to finish as the gold-medal leader.