Bangor lawmaker blasts Maine’s failure to launch in-person sports betting

AUGUSTA, Maine — A Bangor lawmaker chastised Maine’s gambling regulator for not launching in-person sports betting roughly two years after the Legislature allowed casinos into the lucrative industry.

Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, wrote Tuesday to Maine Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milt Champion to question him about “stagnation” around in-person betting since Gov. Janet Mills signed into law in 2022 a compromise giving tribes control of the online market.

Maine is taking longer than most other states to implement in-person sports betting, which was effectively legalized nationwide under a landmark 2018 U.S. Supreme Court decision. The tension highlights the care that was required to balance online sportsbooks with Maine’s incumbent casinos.

Baldacci brokered an amendment to the 2022 measure to allow Hollywood Casino Bangor to conduct in-person sports betting. Oxford Casino in western Maine is the only other casino in the state. Roughly $126 million was wagered in the first four months after betting launched in November, with DraftKings dominating the market in a partnership with the Passamaquoddy.

The online side of the market was expected to account for 85 percent of the market, according to a 2022 estimate from the Legislature’s fiscal office. The law leaves the smaller share for casinos and off-track betting parlors. In his letter, Baldacci called it “both surprising and unacceptable that not a single retail operator has commenced operations.”

“The regulatory framework implemented by your office has proven excessively burdensome,”  Baldacci wrote. “Many potential retail operators have decided not to participate altogether due to the onerous and unique requirements imposed within our state.”

Baldacci also said he heard from the Gambling Control Board — but not Champion — on various concerns, such as why Champion dismissed comments from the industry to try to speed up rule adoption and why there are more stringent surveillance requirements for in-person operators compared to mobile operators. Champion did not respond to a request for comment.

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One gaming industry expert said Baldacci is right to complain about the regulatory delays. Gene Johnson, executive vice president of Victor-Strategies , an Illinois-based gaming consultancy, said other states have taken 177 days — or almost six months — on average to launch in-person sports betting after legalization.

“There is no way this process should have taken so long,” Johnson said.

Under state law , Champion oversees sports betting, while the five-member Gambling Control Board has authority over slot machine and table games in casinos along with pari-mutuel wagering. Gambling Control Board Chair Steve Silver said Baldacci could submit legislation to shift regulatory responsibility of in-person sports betting from Champion to the board.

“I have never understood the legislative choice to do that,” Silver said of the separate oversight. “I tried to raise this issue with the Legislature many times.”

Austin Muchemore, Hollywood Casino Bangor’s vice president and general manager, said in a statement that casino officials remain committed to talking with all parties to implement retail sports betting “as soon as possible.”

“We greatly appreciate Sen. Baldacci’s efforts to bring sports betting to Maine and his continued dedication to the people and business community in the greater Bangor area,” Muchemore said.