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Maine has approved new restrictions on gambling activity, with a ban on sweepstakes casinos and limits on credit card use for sportsbook and online casino accounts.
Maine’s latest legislative actions introduce new controls for both licensed betting operations and unregulated gambling models, while setting enforcement parameters and timelines for future online casino activity.
Legislative Document 2080, signed last week by Gov. Janet Mills, revises the state’s sports betting framework to prohibit the use of credit cards for funding sportsbook and online casino accounts. The measure follows Maine’s decision earlier this year to legalize online casinos, making it the eighth state to permit the vertical.
Rep. Marc Malon sponsored the bill, citing concerns tied to online wagering activity. The state’s two online sportsbooks, DraftKings and Caesars, launched in November 2023.
“Since coming online, sports betting has become a pervasive part of American culture,” said Malon. “Although it has been economically successful, we want to make sure that we establish reasonable safeguards so that Mainers can participate without falling prey to addiction.”
DraftKings already does not allow credit card funding for user accounts. Seven other states have similar restrictions in place.
Ban targets sweepstakes casino operations
On Monday, Mills signed Legislative Document 2007, which prohibits sweepstakes casinos in Maine. The state joins Indiana in taking this step during the current year.
Sen. Craig Hickman introduced the measure in December following actions in other jurisdictions and enforcement activity that included hundreds of cease-and-desist letters sent to operators last year.
The law sets a civil penalty of $100,000 and allows for criminal charges against sweepstakes operators.
During legislative hearings, Maine Gambling Control Unit Executive Director Milton Champion told lawmakers there are about 60 sweepstakes operators in the state.
Timeline and dispute tied to online casino plans
Mills approved online casino legislation in January. In the same month, Champion said online casinos could be operational by early 2027.
Churchill Downs Incorporated later filed a lawsuit against Champion regarding the tribal online casino framework. The company, which operates Oxford Casino in Maine, said the legislature “blessed a race-based monopoly” for the state’s four tribes, which also hold exclusivity over online sports betting.
The Wabanaki tribes filed a joint motion to intervene in the case last week, stating that the law supports economic development for the tribes.