Maine’s Sole Retail Sportsbook Loses License Days Before Super Bowl, Appeals

Maine’s only retail sports betting outlet, Oddfellahs Sportsbook and Bar in Portland, has stopped taking bets after the state’s Gambling Control Unit (GCU) refused to renew its license.

The business told customers last Friday that all bets were off after the regulator pulled the rug on January 29, with just 11 days until the Super Bowl. Oddfellahs’ owner, Mike Cianchette, told the Portland Press Herald he still doesn’t know why.

Oddfellahs partnered with Caesars to open the sportsbook last September, less than a year after newly enacted laws allowed the state’s federally recognized tribes to launch online betting in partnership with third-party operators.

First Track Fast-Tracked

The new rules also permitted Maine’s two casinos and racetracks to operate retail sportsbooks, but a combination of challenging regulations, administrative hiccups, and ongoing preparations led to delays to in-person betting at other venues.

Oddfellahs was permitted to launch its retail sportsbook because Cianchette also oversaw harness racing at the Cumberland Fairgrounds. His company, First Tracks, which also owns Oddfellahs, holds a commercial track license to conduct commercial harness racing events.

The bar opened under a temporary sports betting permit, suggesting this was a trial run for the GCU while it reviewed an application for a permanent license. The temporary license expired on January 17, and the regulator denied the application for a permanent license, according to court documents.

GCU chief Milton Champion wrote in the January 17 order that Maine’s sports betting licensing only permits bets taken “at the premises of the licensed commercial track facility.”

This determination has created a problem for Oddfellahs about how to pay out outstanding winning bets. The venue has urged customers to hang onto their tickets and has pledged to make things right.

“We want to do right by our customers, by the public, so we’re hopeful that a judge will let us keep operating, and then we can go through the process and find an orderly way forward, rather than pulling the rug out from under us,” Cianchette said.

Appeal to Supreme Court

On Thursday, with just three days left to the Super Bowl – likely the most lucrative day of the year for the bar – Oddfellahs applied to the state court to lift the wagering suspension, which was denied.

Superior Court Justice John O’Neil promised he would make a decision soon.