Maine Moves Closer to Sports Betting Legislation

The battle over the legalization of sports betting in Maine has been fierce. Surprisingly, the state legislature finally has another sports betting bill on the table, that being bill LD1352.

Before Maine residents get too excited about the possibility of being able to bet on sports in the near future, it's necessary for everyone to remember that a similar bill was vetoed last year by Gov. Janet Mills. When it looked like the legislature had the votes to override the veto, Mills called on her fellow Democrats to stand down.

Hopefully, this new bill will it make through the entire legislative process on the way to passing.

As for what's in this new bill, licensees would need to pay $100,000 every two years for a sports betting license. Tax rates on sports betting revenue would be set at 16% on mobile betting revenue and 10% on retail sports betting.

Finally, the bill calls for online sports betting and casino skins to be allocated as follows: both of the states retail casinos would get three skins each, the two racetracks would also get three skins each, and up to four of the states OTBs would be permitted to host up to three mobile skins each.