New iGaming law will provide tribe with significant revenues

While the Passamaquoddy Tribe has earned $57 million since its sports betting partnership with DraftKings began in November 2023, according to state records, gambling revenues for the tribe are expected to increase significantly after Maine Governor Janet Mills decided to allow to become law a bill to authorize the Wabanaki nations to operate online gambling. Maine is only the eighth state to legalize online casinos, as similar proposals have failed or stalled in other states, and a recent survey commissioned by a group opposed to internet gaming indicates that a majority of Mainers oppose iGaming. In addition, tribal members at Sipayik have been concerned about the lack of transparency over how the sports betting funds are being used by the tribal government.

Wabanaki tribal leaders, though, say that illegal online gambling is already happening in Maine but the state is losing out on tax revenue. During a legislative hearing on the online gaming bill last March, Passamaquoddy Chief Amkuwiposohehs "Pos" Bassett of Sipayik offered his support for "legalizing an activity that's already illegally occurring across the state of Maine." Noting that anyone can now download a number of apps on their smartphones to illegally gamble online, he stated, "Instead of the state of Maine generating tax revenue from this activity, these companies that are located offshore operate a lot like the state's casinos." While sports wagering "has done well" for the tribe, internet gaming such as roulette, blackjack and poker would help the tribe address infrastructure needs, such as relocating its wastewater plant because of rising sea levels, and also grow existing businesses, he said.

Passamaquoddy Chief William Nicholas of Motahkomikuk also testified in support of the bill, stating, "Like Maine's two casinos, Maine's illegal internet gaming operators are simply siphoning money out of the state, just through different customers who play games on apps instead of casinos."

Following the hearing, the fate of the bill, LD 1164, was uncertain, as a similar measure had been turned down in the legislature in 2024, and Governor Mills had vetoed a tribal casino bill in 2021. While the legislature did end up passing the internet gaming bill, tribal leaders were not sure if Mills, who had held the bill after the legislature adjourned last June, would veto it. They continued lobbying the governor, who finally announced on January 8 her intention to let the bill become law. Mills states, "I considered this bill carefully, and while I have concerns about the impacts of gambling on public health, I believe that this new form of gambling should be regulated, and I am confident that Maine's Gambling Control Unit will develop responsible rules and standards to hold providers of this new form of gambling accountable while ensuring that Maine's tribes benefit from its operations."

After the governor announced her decision, Chief Nicholas commented, "Governor Mills' support for historic advances in tribal economic development, particularly her decision to allow LD 1164 to become law, marks an economic turning point for the Passamaquoddy people and for all Wabanaki nations." It will also benefit the state government, as the new law ended up requiring that internet gaming operators distribute 18% of gross receipts to the state, which could generate more than $100 million in tax revenues over a decade.

In a January 10 letter to the Sipayik community, Chief Bassett writes, "We will need to do a lot of planning around internet gaming and how we can be successful to improve the quality of life we all deserve. This will be a game changer to all tribal communities in Maine, so we'll need to make the best decisions moving forward in these prosperous times."

While the tribe plans to use its sports betting funds for tribal programs ranging from health care to housing, tribal members say that the tribal government has not been forthcoming with specific details about the revenues and how the funds will be divided up and spent. Some tribal members recently presented a petition to recall Bassett from office over concerns about the lack of transparency with how the sports betting revenues will be used, but the effort was unsuccessful because the petition was determined to not have a sufficient number of valid signatures.

In his recent letter to the community, Chief Bassett says he will seek to have the tribal council, at its next meeting, adopt a resolution to issue a revenue and expense book for each year to be mailed to each tribal household on the census of Sipayik. "This will show you our ending balances of each program, revenue received and what those funds had been spent on."

Other concerns raised

Unlike other tribes in the country that have been able to set up casinos to generate billions of dollars to help with self‑determination and Native sovereignty efforts, for more than 30 years the tribes in Maine, which do not fall under the federal Indian Gaming Regulatory Act because of the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act, have been unsuccessful in their efforts to establish a casino in the state, while two non-tribal casinos were approved.

Then in 2022 the legislature approved the sports betting law giving the tribes in the state exclusive access to mobile gaming rights, which quickly proved lucrative for the Passamaquoddy Tribe. In 2023, the tribe partnered with DraftKings Inc., a digital sports entertainment company based in Boston, for its sports‑betting operation, while the Penobscot Nation, the Houlton Band of Maliseets and the Mi'kmaq Nation partnered with Caesars Sportsbook Maine. Since sports betting was launched in the state in November 2023, the DraftKings partnership has raked in seven times as much as the adjusted gross revenue of the Caesars partnership, $114.7 million to $16 million, as of the end of December 2025.

Online gaming is now expected to raise significantly more funds for the tribes, as the market is seen as being three to four times larger than the one for sports betting.

Along with concerns about the tribal government's lack of transparency, many are worried about gambling addiction, and the state's two casinos fear the loss of revenue. A recent statewide survey commissioned by the National Association Against iGaming (NAAiG) and conducted by Lake Research Partners indicated that 64% of Maine voters opposed legalizing iGaming. According to a release from the group, voters were concerned about gambling addiction and that online gambling companies have not been able to prevent minors from accessing gambling apps, including on their parents' phones.

During the hearing on the online gaming bill last March, the Maine Medical Association (MMA) was among the groups opposing the bill because of concerns over gambling addiction. Speaking on behalf of the MMA, Patty Hymanson of York told the committee that, since Michigan legalized online casino games and sports betting in 2021, the number of calls to the gambling addiction hotline have tripled, with two‑thirds of the calls from men.

The two casinos in the state also opposed the measure. Chris Jackson of the lobby firm Mitchell Tardy Jackson, representing Hollywood Casino, Hotel and Raceway in Bangor, stated that the bill would "constitute the largest single expansion of gaming in our state's history, without approval from the voters, and threaten facilities in Bangor and Oxford."

With the new law not going into effect until three months after the legislature adjourns for the year, the earliest that the iGaming market could be up and running would be next fall.