The Maine Gambling Control Unit has announced that it will publish the proposed rules for the sports betting industry today, Wednesday, 11th January.
According to local news reports, the state regulator will also publish a notice of public hearing relating to the newly proposed rules which will take place on January 31st. This is the first significant step for sports betting in Maine since Governor Janet Mills signed the legislation into law in May or 2022 with the law coming into effect on August 2nd, 2022.
Since then, Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milton Champion has been meeting with industry stakeholders as the unit worked on the initial set of industry rules and regulations. In July of 2022, Champion stated that he hoped to have the rules published by the end of 2022.
“I hate to be disappointing to people, but I’d rather be realistic and then roll them out in six to eight months and have people happy because we did it so quick.”
The state’s four federally recognized tribes will operate online sports betting and can run their own platforms or partner with established mobile sports betting operators such as FanDuel or DraftKings. The legislation also allows for retail sports betting at the state’s two casinos — the Hollywood Slots Hotel and Raceway and Oxford Casino — and Maine’s six off-track betting properties.
Based in London, Natasha is a former sports journalist with experience working for some of the biggest athletes & brands in the world of sports and iGaming.