Maine records $37.6 million in online wagers within first month of sports betting

A month after sports betting was legalized in Maine, the Gambling Control Unit has revealed the first revenue report for the state. Since the market launched on November 3rd, $37.6 million has been placed in online bets across the state. 

A 10% tax on sportsbook revenue is gathered after player payouts and federal taxes, with the state government generating $468,000 in taxes from this first month.

Maine Public cited Gambling Control Unit commissioner Milt Champion who said: "We were fearful of (getting) a lot of complaints (this first month) and, knock on wood, it's been quiet. I'm really surprised and very, very thankful."

DraftKings’ online betting platform was responsible for 80% of wagers, with the rest placed on Caesars Sportsbook. 

Maine’s four tribes have exclusive rights to the state's four online sports betting licenses, under the state law that went into effect in May 2022. While the Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, and Penobscot tribes have a deal with Caesars, DraftKings has an agreement with the Passamaquoddy Tribe. 50% of the gross receipts are collected by the tribes.

Within the first month of operation, the two mobile betting apps claimed close to $4.9 million in gross sports betting revenue thanks to a 12.9% hold. The state then imposed its 10% tax rate on more than $4.6 million in adjusted gross revenue, resulting in $464,152 for state coffers.

Caesars and DraftKings took their first wagers in Maine on November 3rd when it became the fifth state to launch in 2023. As per Maine Public, Champion expects Maine to collect about $6 million in state taxes for this first year of operation. He noted that the NFL games have attracted the most action with about a quarter of all wagers occurring on Sundays.

"People bet on other things [like] maybe golf or something like that," Champion said. "But the Super Bowl and March Madness are the two key times for sports wagering, so we'll have to wait and see how they work out."

The numbers released by the Gambling Control Unit support the claim that the NFL dominates online sports betting. 23.2% of DraftKing’s $30.5 million handle revolved around action Sunday. Its top three daily handle totals were on Sunday, all above $1.75 million. 

Meanwhile, Caesars recorded its best numbers in the final week of November. The sportsbook recorded a $3.3 million handle for November 24-30, representing 46.9% of its overall total of $7.1 million. However, the mobile betting app also posted its two biggest daily losses of the month in the same week.