Maine’s online sports handle hits $500 million in first year

Neha Soni November 13, 2024

SiGMA news

Maine’s online sports handle hits $500 million in first year

Maine’s online sports handle has crossed the $500 million mark to hit $501.3 million in its first 12 months, while October’s handle reached a new record of $52.0 million.

DraftKings, the former daily fantasy sports (DFS) powerhouse and partner of the Passamaquoddy tribe, contributed $45.4 million to Maine’s handle for the month of October while Caesars brought in $6.6 million. The US state’s online margin for the month was 7.8 percent and the gross win amounted to $4 million. Of this $4 million, $3.6 million was earned by DraftKings and $450,425 by Caesars.

The monthly adjusted gross revenue (AGR) reached $3.8 million In October and resulted in online tax revenue of $378,354. It was the second month of OddFellah’s retail betting in Maine, it took bets of $287,103.

Sports betting

In its first year, Maine’s total gross win across online and retail betting was $56.6 million for the month, which gave $52.4 million in AGR and $5.2 million for the state in betting tax.

In May 2022, Maine had legalised sports betting, granting a monopoly to the state’s four tribes. Interestingly, the tribes were not seeking this right at the time. The lawmakers were pushing a bill to create an open, competitive marketplace. However, Governor Janet Mills sought to extend an olive branch to the four tribes of the Wabanaki Nation. These tribes do not enjoy the same level of federal recognition as most other tribes in the US, and their relationship with the state has been fraught with tension.

There are only two legal sportsbooks in Maine. Sportsbooks were required to partner with the state’s federally recognised four tribes, this in turn led to Caesars Sportsbook partnering with three of the tribes and DraftKings Sportsbook partnering with one. Currently, there are no brick-and-mortar sportsbooks in the state of Maine, therefore all sports wagering must be done online.