Maine

Last verified September 27, 2026

By the Legal Sportsbooks US editorial team

Maine

Online and retail

Legal since

November 3, 2023 (online); September 2024 (retail)

Minimum age

Regulator

Maine Gambling Control Unit

Licensed apps

2 (DraftKings, Caesars Sportsbook)

State law

8 M.R.S. ch. 35 (1201 et seq.)

Is sports betting legal in Maine?

Yes, online and in person, at 21. LD 585, signed by Gov. Janet Mills on May 2, 2022 as Public Law 2021, chapter 681, created Title 8, chapter 35 of the Maine statutes and gave mobile licenses only to the state's four federally recognized Wabanaki Nations. Mobile betting launched November 3, 2023. Retail receipts first appear in Gambling Control Unit reports for September 2024.

Where you can bet

Each tribe can hold one mobile license and contract with one platform. Caesars Sportsbook runs the licenses of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Mi'kmaq Nation and the Penobscot Nation, and DraftKings runs the Passamaquoddy Tribe's. Those two apps are the only legal mobile options.

Casinos, commercial tracks and off-track betting (OTB) facilities can hold up to 10 facility licenses in total; the tribes can't. Two sites report retail receipts: First Tracks Investments, filed under its Oddfellahs location in Portland, since September 2024, and the Oxford Casino Hotel sportsbook, since December 2025.

You can't bet on a college game involving a Maine school, wherever it's played, though other games in a tournament that includes a Maine team are allowed. High school events and events where most participants are under 18 are banned, as are bets on injuries, penalties, disciplinary rulings and replay reviews. Credit cards are banned for sports bets under LD 2080, which Mills signed April 3, 2026 (chapter 628).

Operators pay 10% of adjusted gross receipts at retail and online. The statute splits it six ways: 6.5% to the General Fund, 1% for Gambling Control Unit costs, 1% for gambling addiction prevention, 0.55% each to the Harness Racing Commission and the Sire Stakes Fund, and 0.4% to agricultural fairs. In 2025 the four reporting licensees took about $601.9 million in bets and paid $6.67 million in tax, and DraftKings' Passamaquoddy license took $481.3 million of that handle.

How Maine legalized sports betting

Tribal gaming before 2018

The 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act and the state Implementing Act put the tribes under state law on most subjects. When the Penobscot Nation ran beano games to fund tribal services, the state stopped it, and the Maine Supreme Judicial Court backed the state in 1983. After Congress passed the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) in 1988, the Passamaquoddy Tribe planned a casino in Calais, and the courts held that IGRA doesn't apply in Maine (see the court cases below). Voters rejected a $650 million tribal casino in southern Maine in 2003 and approved a racino at the Bangor harness track on the same ballot. They narrowly approved the Oxford Casino in 2010. Tribal casino and slot bills failed in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2019.

Vetoes and stalls, 2019 to 2021

After Murphy v. NCAA struck down the federal ban on May 14, 2018, the 129th Legislature passed LD 553, a sports betting bill, on the last day of its June 2019 session. The Legislature adjourned before Gov. Mills's deadline, so she acted when it returned, vetoing the bill on January 10, 2020. The House vote to override was 85 to 57, short of the 94 votes required, and the veto was sustained on February 11, 2020. In 2021 lawmakers passed LD 1352, another multi-operator bill, but it sat on the appropriations table and died when the session adjourned on May 9, 2022. Mills also vetoed LD 554, a tribal gaming bill, on June 30, 2021.

LD 585 and the tribal deal, 2022

LD 585 was a Judiciary Committee bill on tribal-state collaboration and tribal taxes. With a broader tribal sovereignty bill, LD 1626, stalled in 2022 (it died on adjournment), the governor added mobile sports betting exclusivity for the tribes to LD 585, and in-person betting for casinos, tracks and OTBs was added during the process. The law's findings say tribal exclusivity is "fair and equitable" because the tribes "previously have been excluded from conducting most forms of gaming in the State." Mills signed it May 2, 2022, and it took effect in August 2022, 90 days after the May 9 adjournment.

Rules, launch and later changes, 2023 to 2026

The Gambling Control Unit sits in the Department of Public Safety, and its executive director is Milton Champion. Its sports wagering rules are chapters 50 to 67. The Passamaquoddy Tribe was the last of the four to sign a platform deal, with DraftKings. Mobile betting opened November 3, 2023, and both licensees reported November receipts. November 2023 handle was $37.6 million, and the state's tax that month came to $464,151.

LD 2117, signed March 28, 2024 (Public Law 2023, chapter 577), cut license fees for licenses issued from September 1, 2024 (mobile from $200,000 to $50,000, facility from $4,000 to $1,000) and shortened terms from four years to one. A separate 2024 law, LD 2080 of the 131st Legislature, set up a universal self-exclusion list covering casinos, advance deposit wagering, fantasy contests and sports wagering. Bills requiring a local vote before a sportsbook opens (LD 811) and moving retail oversight to the Gambling Control Board (LD 1862) failed in 2025.

LD 1777, a tribal online casino bill, died between the chambers on April 17, 2024. Its successor, LD 1164, passed in June 2025, and with the Legislature out of session Mills couldn't act until January. She let it become law without her signature; the Legislature's record dates it January 11, 2026 (Public Law 2025, chapter 538). It gives the four tribes exclusive iGaming licenses at an 18% tax. The state told the federal court the rules wouldn't take effect before July 31, 2026, and in August the state declined to give a firm start date. On April 6, 2026 Mills signed LD 2007 (chapter 645), which makes online sweepstakes games unlawful gambling.

Sports betting court cases in Maine

Penobscot Nation v. Stilphen (1983)

The Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled on June 7, 1983 (461 A.2d 478) that the Penobscot Nation's beano games were subject to state gambling law, because the Implementing Act didn't exempt them and the beano statute didn't list the tribe as an authorized operator. The U.S. Supreme Court dismissed the appeal for want of a substantial federal question on October 31, 1983 (464 U.S. 923).

Passamaquoddy Tribe v. Maine (1996)

The Passamaquoddy Tribe sued to force Maine to negotiate an IGRA casino compact. Maine still has no IGRA compacts, and the tribes' betting licenses come from state statute. The U.S. District Court for the District of Maine entered judgment for the state in 1995. The First Circuit affirmed on February 9, 1996 (No. 95-1922, 75 F.3d 784). It held that section 16(b) of the Settlement Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1735(b), blocks later federal Indian laws that would affect Maine law unless Congress makes them specifically applicable in Maine, and IGRA wasn't.

First Tracks Investments and the Oddfellahs license

In 2025 the state pulled First Tracks Investments' temporary facility license for Oddfellahs, saying it covered the company's track and couldn't be used at the Portland bar. First Tracks sued. In March 2026 a Superior Court judge ruled that the state misinterpreted the law and that wagering can happen at any location the license holder controls, which tracks the wording of 8 M.R.S. § 1206(3), and the application went back to the Gambling Control Unit. Oddfellahs owner Michael Cianchette said the court had now ruled that way twice. State officials said they were reviewing the order. We haven't found a published opinion or an appeal.

Oxford Casino Hotel v. Champion (iGaming exclusivity)

Oxford Casino Hotel, BB Development LLC and Churchill Downs Inc. sued the Gambling Control Unit director in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine on January 23, 2026 (No. 1:26-cv-00046-LEW, Judge Lance E. Walker). They argue that LD 1164's tribes-only licenses are a race-based classification barred by the Equal Protection Clause, and that the law is invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause as well. The four Wabanaki Nations moved to intervene on April 1 and were admitted April 2, and they answer that laws aimed at tribal governments are political classifications reviewed for a rational basis. Oxford filed an amended complaint March 16 and a motion for judgment on the pleadings; the state and the tribes filed summary-judgment motions on May 8. Briefing closed June 26, and the court let the California Gaming Association file an amicus brief. Oxford asked for a status conference on August 4 because the state hadn't set an implementation date. The docket shows an order entered in late September, but we couldn't read it, so we can't say whether the motions have been decided. The suit doesn't challenge the mobile sports betting licenses.

Prediction markets in the First Circuit

We found no Maine lawsuit, criminal charge or cease-and-desist letter against Kalshi, Polymarket, Crypto.com, Robinhood, Underdog, Novig or any other prediction market, and no operator suit against Maine, in CourtListener's dockets for the District of Maine and the First Circuit. Maine has joined multistate amicus briefs supporting state authority: Attorney General Aaron Frey signed the March 10, 2026 brief in the Ninth Circuit Nevada appeals (Nos. 25-7187, 25-7516, 25-7831) and the April 2026 brief in Commonwealth v. KalshiEX LLC before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC-13906, argued May 4, 2026).

The First Circuit, whose rulings bind Maine's federal courts, hasn't decided whether the Commodity Exchange Act preempts state gambling law. Its pending case is Robinhood Derivatives, LLC v. Campbell, No. 26-1257, an appeal from the District of Massachusetts' dismissal of Robinhood's suit as unripe. Briefing ended with Robinhood's reply on August 13, 2026, and no argument date appears on the docket. Elsewhere, the Third Circuit ruled for Kalshi against New Jersey on April 6, 2026 (KalshiEX v. Flaherty, No. 25-1922), and New Jersey's petition is at the U.S. Supreme Court as No. 26-299, with Kalshi's response due November 9, 2026. The Ninth Circuit ruled for Nevada on August 28, 2026 (KalshiEX v. Assad, No. 25-7516). Neither ruling binds Maine.

Prediction markets and daily fantasy

CFTC-regulated prediction markets with sports contracts are available to Maine residents without a state license. Novig (Ludlow Exchange, LLC, a CFTC-designated contract market since June 16, 2026) accepts traders who are 21 or older with ID while they're in Maine, since its eligibility page excludes only Nevada, Arizona and Michigan, and it builds no vig into prices. The pending federal cases are covered in the court-cases section above.

Daily fantasy has been legal since Public Law 2017, chapter 303, which put operators under Gambling Control Unit licensing (Title 8, chapter 33). LD 33, signed May 23, 2025 (Public Law 2025, chapter 95), rewrote the definition so a contest needs two or more paying contestants, none of whom can be the operator, which ends player-versus-house pick'em. The unit's current list of licensed fantasy operators is DraftKings, FanDuel, RealTime Fantasy Sports, PrizePicks and Dabble. Underdog isn't on it.

Help with a gambling problem

211 Maine is the state's problem gambling line: call 211, text your ZIP code to 898-211, or visit 211maine.org.

Sources

Common questions

How we track and verify state laws

What does Legal Sportsbooks US track?

Every state's legal status, the date betting became legal, the minimum age, the regulator and the licensed apps, plus the legal history and court cases behind them, for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Our page on how we track and verify state laws explains the details.

What do the statuses mean?

Online and retail means licensed mobile apps and in-person sportsbooks both operate. Online only means betting happens through licensed apps, with no retail sportsbooks. Retail only means you can bet in person at licensed venues, but there's no statewide app. Not legal means no licensed sportsbooks operate. Legislation pending means a bill or ballot measure is moving, but betting hasn't launched. Not yet verified means we haven't confirmed the state's current status.

Can I bet on sports where I live?

The rules follow where you are when you place the bet. Licensed apps use geolocation to confirm you're inside a state where they can operate, and some states limit betting to certain premises. Find your state in the state index, or read our guide to location rules.

How old do you have to be to bet on sports?

It's 21 in 33 of the 40 jurisdictions with legal sports betting and 18 in five: Washington, D.C., Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wyoming. In North Dakota and Washington, the tribal casino sets the age.

How current is the tracker?

State laws and licenses change, so every state entry records the date it was last verified. If a status looks out of date, the state regulator's website has the official answer.

Is this legal advice?

No. We summarize public information about state sports betting laws. Confirm the rules with your state regulator before you bet, and don't wager more than you can afford to lose.