Maine’s Gambling Control Unit (GCU) has pointed to the first quarter of 2027 as a realistic window for the launch of regulated online casino gaming, though its director has stressed the date is a target rather than a commitment.

Milt Champion, executive director of the GCU, said a launch before the end of 2026 was unlikely and described the first quarter of next year as a practical option, according to reports from several US trade outlets this week. Maine’s online casino market will be run exclusively by the state’s Wabanaki tribes.

Third round of rules

The timeline hinges on rulemaking. The GCU published its third set of proposed internet gaming rules, Chapters 70 to 84, on 30 September, with written comments limited to the newly amended language and due by 30 October, according to the unit’s rulemaking page. That followed an initial notice in May and a second publication with a public hearing in July.

If the latest comments produce no substantive changes, the final adoption package goes to the Attorney General’s office, which has up to 120 days to review it for legality. If that review or the comments force a fourth publication, final adoption would be pushed back, Champion said, a risk US betting press flagged as a potential delay beyond the first quarter.

Staff and systems still needed

Rules are only part of the work. The GCU still needs to hire six staff, arrange iGaming training and bring a new online licensing portal and database into service so that companies can file applications electronically. Prospective licensees and suppliers can prepare paperwork now but cannot yet submit it.

Champion also said the agency has no active investigations involving prediction markets in Maine, a notable contrast with states such as Ohio and Tennessee, where regulators are in open legal conflict with event-contract platforms.

Legal challenge in the background

The launch faces a further complication in federal court. In January, Churchill Downs, owner of the Oxford Casino Hotel, filed a federal lawsuit against Champion challenging the tribes’ exclusive online casino rights. The case remains a wildcard for the timetable, and any ruling against the state could reshape the market before it opens.

The tribal-exclusive model makes Maine an outlier among US iGaming states, where commercial casino licensees typically hold online rights. It has drawn interest from suppliers and platform providers looking to partner with the tribes, but the market’s small population means its significance lies more in the precedent it sets than in its revenue potential.

For operators and suppliers, the practical questions are licensing timelines and technical standards. Until the portal is live, no applications can be processed, so even a swift rules adoption would leave a short window for approvals before a first-quarter launch. That sequencing suggests the earliest platforms to go live will be those that have already completed licensing in other US states and can reuse their documentation.

What happens next

The 30 October comment deadline is the next milestone. A clean comment period would put the rules on track for adoption early next year, leaving the first quarter of 2027 achievable. Another round of revisions would make a spring or later launch more likely.

Raketech, the Nasdaq First North-listed affiliate group, has agreed to settle the outstanding earnout from its 2019 acquisition of Casumba Media for €8.2m, against roughly €20.3m that would otherwise have been payable.

The company said on 19 October that the deal with Casumba’s former owners is a full and final settlement of the remaining earnout, including accrued interest, and reduces the amount it owes by about €12.1m. All obligations to the sellers will be extinguished once payment is complete.

How it will be paid

According to the company’s release, Raketech will pay €3.0m from existing cash within two business days of signing. The remaining €5.2m will be paid directly to the sellers by Bank of Valletta when new financing is drawn.

The bank has approved €5.5m in total: a new €3.5m three-year term loan and €2.0m drawn from an existing revolving facility, also repaid over three years. Both carry interest of 6.65% a year. The facilities are secured, including a pledge over the deferred consideration Raketech is owed for the Casumba assets, and carry a debt service coverage covenant of at least 1.1x. Future share buybacks will need the bank’s approval.

The second instalment is conditional. If the loan is not released by 31 December 2026, quarterly payments under the old terms resume. If it is not released by 31 March 2027, each seller can walk away and revert to the original earnout, with payments already made credited.

Balance sheet effect

The earnout was carried at €21.3m at the end of June. Raketech expects to book a significant one-off, non-cash gain in the fourth quarter, below operating profit, with no effect on EBITDA. Net interest-bearing debt will fall by about €12m, and notional interest on the earnout, which ran to €0.9m in the first half, will stop.

After completion, Raketech’s only borrowings will be about €8.5m from Bank of Valletta. Against that, the company expects to receive around €12m from the earlier sales of the Casumba assets and its US business. The Casumba assets were sold in September 2025 for €12.0m, payable in monthly instalments through December 2029.

Chief executive Johan Svensson called the agreement “a significant milestone for Raketech”.

Board member Magnus Alebo, a beneficial owner of one of the sellers, did not take part in the board’s decision.

Raketech had already renegotiated the earnout once. In May 2025 it agreed with the sellers to stretch the remaining payments from September 2026 to March 2028, with interest and payment in cash. The new deal replaces that schedule with a single discounted settlement, which the company said reflects the reduced value of the payments to both sides.

A cleaner slate in a tough sector

The settlement was picked up by the trade press on Monday and Tuesday, with coverage focusing on the roughly 60% discount Raketech secured. It removes one of the heaviest legacy items from the balance sheet of a business that has been selling assets and narrowing its focus.

The timing matters. Listed affiliates are under pressure from algorithm changes and generative search, with peer Catena Media reporting a 29% fall in third-quarter revenue this week. Raketech’s next test will be whether its slimmer operation can grow once the earnout overhang is gone.

Pennsylvania’s online casino market generated $249.3m in revenue in September, up 6.82% on the same month last year, according to figures released by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB).

Total gaming revenue across all verticals reached $555.0m, a 4.07% increase on September 2025’s $533.3m, the regulator said in its monthly revenue report. The state collected $242.6m in tax revenue from gaming during the month.

Slots carry iGaming growth

Online slots did the heavy lifting. iGaming slot revenue rose 8.99% to $197.4m, while online table games slipped 0.63% to $49.7m and online poker fell 1.76% to $2.3m.

The strongest individual iGaming performance came from Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, whose online revenue rose 12.93% to $99.0m. Valley Forge Casino Resort followed with $69.8m, up 5.14%, and Rivers Casino Philadelphia posted $38.5m, up 8.55%.

Pennsylvania’s online casino total compares with the $274.8m reported by New Jersey, where iGaming win rose 13% in September. New Jersey grew faster over the year, though both markets remain among the largest regulated US iGaming states by monthly revenue.

Online casino now accounts for roughly 45% of all gaming revenue in the state, measured against the $555.0m total, and slots make up close to four-fifths of the iGaming figure. Table games and poker have been flat to slightly down, which leaves the vertical’s growth almost entirely dependent on slot content and the operators’ ability to keep players engaged with new releases and jackpot networks.

The PGCB figures were also reported by CDC Gaming and other US industry outlets, which highlighted the strength of online slots and sports wagering margins as the main drivers of the month.

Sportsbooks hold more on less

Sports wagering produced the month’s sharpest swing. Revenue rose 50.45% to $44.7m even though handle fell 6.09% to $798.7m. That implies a hold of roughly 5.6%, compared with about 3.5% a year earlier, meaning sporting results ran more favourably for operators this time around.

The decline in handle is worth watching. September is usually one of the strongest months for betting volume as the NFL and college football seasons start, so a year-on-year fall in stakes stands out even in a month when revenue rose.

Higher hold flatters the revenue line in the short term, but it can also prompt players to bet less in subsequent weeks if they feel results have gone against them. Operators will be hoping that October, which includes the start of the NBA and NHL seasons alongside a full slate of NFL games, brings handle back into growth.

Land-based mixed

Retail slot machine revenue rose 2.44% to $196.2m, but retail table games fell 18.07% to $60.2m. Video gaming terminals at truck stops declined 4.90% to $3.2m, and fantasy contest revenue dropped 23.75% to $1.5m.

The overall picture is a market where online casino growth is more than offsetting weakness in land-based tables. Pennsylvania’s gaming revenue passed $7bn for the first time in fiscal year 2025/26, according to the PGCB.

What to watch

October’s figures will be the first to reflect the state’s enforcement against unregulated skill games, which became illegal in mid-October as state police began seizures. Licensed operators have argued that removing those machines should push some spend back to regulated venues, and the PGCB’s next report will offer the first evidence either way.