Sports Betting Goes Live in Maine

While Maine is not often thought of as a hotbed of sports fans and bettors, there are still plenty of residents in the state who enjoy betting on professional and college sports. As of Friday, November 3, 2023, at 9:00 a.m. EST., Maine residents were officially permitted to legally bet on sports.

The appropriate sports betting legislation was passed in May of 2022 when Maine Governor Janet Mills affixed her signature to the sports betting legislation that passed through Congress earlier that month. With the historic signing, people physically located in the state were given the right to legally bet on sports without having to travel to other states.

Details of the Sports Betting Laws as They Stand Today

No changes have been made to Maine's sports betting laws since everything was passed in 2022. As it stands now, sports bettors in the state must be at least 21 years of age if they want to place sports wagers. Additionally, they are required to be physically located in the state when making retail and or mobile sports bets. With mobile sports bets, sports betting operators are required by law to use geo-tracking technology to track customer locations.

Out-of-state residents can open mobile sports betting accounts as long as they are physically in Maine when registering and betting.

According to the passed legislation, Maine’s four Indigenous Indian Tribes will have the exclusive right to offer online sports betting throughout the state.

Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings at the Helm

A total of seven (7) mobile sports betting licenses will eventually be issued by the Maine Gambling Control Unit. Two (2) of them are going to the state's retail casinos and the other five (5) going to five off-track betting sites where retail sports betting will be permitted.

Maine residents will appreciate the fact that the nation's top two (2) sports betting operators will be in charge of accepting bets at the start. Caesars Sportsbook has aligned itself with the Maliseet, Micmac, and Penobscot Tribes while DraftKings will control sports betting operations for the Passamaquoddy Tribe.

In a news press release, Jason Robin, DraftKings’ CEO, told reporters:

“Building a relationship with the Passamaquoddy Tribe is a fantastic opportunity for DraftKings, as we look to bring customers in the state of Maine safe and legal sports betting. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the Maine Gambling Control Unit as we become the official mobile sports betting provider of the Passamaquoddy Tribe and launch in our industry-leading 25th state.”

Maine sports bettors will be interested to know that both Caesars Sportsbook and DraftKings released Welcome Bonus information on the X platform.

Caesars has announced that all new customers will be entitled to $100 in free bets after they complete the registration process and make an initial sports bet of at least $50. Meanwhile, DraftKings has announced that new customers will get $200 in bonus bets after registering and placing an initial sports bet of only $5.

In both cases, customers can expect to get access to more upcoming offers.