Wabanaki Tribes & Oxford Casino clash over Maine's exclusive tribal iGaming rights

There's a legal battle brewing over online gaming in Maine. It started when the Oxford Casino Hotel sued Maine in January over granting iGaming exclusivity to the state's four federally recognized Wabanaki Tribes. Now, the Wabanaki Nations are striking back by filing for legal intervention in the lawsuit.

Owned by Churchill Downs Inc, Oxford Casino claims that the state has awarded the Wabanaki Tribes an "unlawful" monopoly over Maine online casinos. 

Their lawsuit, Oxford Casino Hotel et all v. Champion, is aimed at Milton Champion, director of the Maine Gambling Control Unit. It alleges that Champion used discrimination based on race to award all available iGaming licenses to Native American tribes.

The suit also claims that the ME online gaming arrangement violates the Equal Protection clauses of both the state and US federal government. It predicts that Maine will lose millions of dollars in annual tax revenue by not opening the market to commercial participants.

The four Wakanabi Tribes—Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians, the Mi'kmaq Nation, the Penobscot Nation, and the Passamaquoddy Tribe—have responded to the Oxford Casino lawsuit with litigation of their own. 

Their court filing labels Oxford's lawsuit a "constitutional attack" on the Maine statute that gives tribes sole rights to provide online gaming. It also notes that iGaming is vital to the tribes' economies and being able to provide for their citizens:

"[The Oxford lawsuit] targets the Nations' ability to generate revenues needed to effectively 

deliver tribal governmental services to their citizens."

Maine became the eighth state to legalize online casino games in January. LD 1164 passed both houses and officially became law when Gov. Janet Mills didn't act on it.

Champion and the Maine Gambling Control Unit have since been working on the regulatory framework. An early part of this work included granting exclusivity to the four Wabanaki Tribes, which is why Oxford Casino Hotel is upset.

The Pine Tree State is set to launch the newest online casinos in the US market later this year. Tentative launch dates for legal ME casino apps are estimated to be September or March.

Each Wabanaki Tribe can grant a license to an online casino partner for $50,000 per license. Caesars Palace Online and DraftKings are already running sports betting operations in the state. Therefore, it's logical to assume that they'll take two of the licenses.

It's unknown if the Oxford Casino suit will disrupt anything that's currently happening. The Gambling Control Unit is expected to finish setting regulations in July, leading licensed online casinos to probably launch weeks or months after that. If Oxford wins its case, adding commercial casinos to the mix would likely delay things. DraftKings is providing 1,500 bonus spins when you play at least $5:

Another aspect that's unclear is what casino bonus codes will be available when Maine iGaming goes live. If DraftKings and Caesars get online casino licenses, they might offer something similar to their current deals in MI, NJ, WV, and PA. Here's a preview of what to expect with Maine online casino promos. Caesars Palace Online offers a $10 sign-up bonus and a 100% match on your first deposit up to $1,000 in casino credits

You might see similar deals, or even better, since online casinos tend to offer excellent promotions when they launch in new states. But we probably won't officially know anything about the bonuses until the summer.

Jeremy Olson