Maine
Maine’s new sports betting market may be without industry’s biggest names
Maine’s rising sports activities betting market could not see bites from big-name firms because of its construction even whereas the business exhibits deep curiosity within the rollout.
The Legislature handed a invoice giving cell sports activities betting rights to the Wabanaki tribes on this spring, whereas reserving the far smaller in-person marketplace for casinos and off-track betting parlors. It may very well be one other two years earlier than the market goes reside.
However the multi-faceted members of the business have already begun speaking to at the very least one tribe a few partnership and are lining up to concentrate to the essential rulemaking course of. That curiosity doesn’t appear to increase to the most important names in sports activities betting to date.
That’s partly due to the income construction designed to learn the tribes and Maine’s standing as a small state. However it might depart room for smaller firms to get a foothold with loads of time for issues to vary because the state hammers out guidelines and events negotiate.
As much as 12 entities have reached out to the Maine Playing Management Unit to introduce themselves and provide details about their companies, mentioned Milton Champion, the unit’s govt director.
These events embrace the NFL as a governing physique and representatives of Oxford On line casino, sports activities knowledge trackers, cost firms and geolocators. However it doesn’t embrace DraftKings, which has a monopoly on New Hampshire’s sports activities betting enterprise, or FanDuel. These two firms are the nation’s two dominant sports activities betting outfits.
“There’s clearly some curiosity,” Champion mentioned. “However let’s face it, Maine isn’t a $6 million state. It’s not going to push out huge numbers.”
Champion is accountable for crafting rules for the 4 cell betting licenses for tribes in addition to the licenses for on-site betting on the casinos and off-track betting services. These entities can’t affect that course of till guidelines are launched and a public remark interval begins. At this level, Champion mentioned preliminary guidelines must be launched within the late fall as his company seems to be to rent extra workers.
“There’s clearly some curiosity,” he mentioned. “However let’s face it, Maine isn’t a $6 million state. It’s not going to push out huge numbers.”
That might not be simply as a result of measurement of the state, mentioned John Pappas, state advocacy director for the gaming coverage group iDEA Development. Maine solely permits operators to gather between 30 p.c to 40 p.c of income generated from wagers, an quantity unlikely to entice larger entities. A restricted variety of licenses right here may be a deterrent, he mentioned.
The sports activities betting invoice was one of many high-profile debates of the legislative season. It was crafted as a compromise invoice from Gov. Janet Mills, who has opposed a wider sovereignty push from the Wabanaki tribes and their supporters. Whereas not the invoice they most well-liked, tribal leaders supported the measure as a result of it might present a pathway to working a gaming operation and the financial alternatives it could possibly present.
However it angered gaming proponents as a result of it sidelined a previous invoice that had handed each chambers the prior 12 months. That one would have mechanically given casinos and off-track betting websites cell betting licenses. The present regulation solely permits individuals to make in-person bets there.
The total roster of events might not be public for a while. Chief Maggie Dana of the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sipayik, mentioned a few dozen distributors of assorted sizes have contacted her concerning the rules. However she mentioned they are going to be signing non-disclosure agreements as they begin to have extra in-depth discussions.
“We’re simply listening to what their pitches are,” she mentioned.