{"id":812,"date":"2026-01-28T12:28:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T13:28:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=812"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:30:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:30:51","slug":"churchill-downs-sues-maine-over-race-based-tribal-igaming-monopoly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/28\/churchill-downs-sues-maine-over-race-based-tribal-igaming-monopoly\/","title":{"rendered":"Churchill Downs Sues Maine Over \u2018Race-Based\u2019 Tribal iGaming Monopoly"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Churchill Downs challenges Maine\u2019s exclusive tribal iGaming authorization in federal court<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Lawsuit argues tribal monopoly violates Equal Protection clauses <\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Operator warns online gaming will cannibalize land-based casinos and jobs<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Churchill Downs is suing Maine\u2019s gambling regulator, arguing that the decision to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/online-casino-gambling-coming-to-maine\/\">grant an online gaming monopoly<\/a> to its federally recognized tribes is \u201crace-based\u201d and violates the Equal Protection Clauses of both the United States and Maine constitutions.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_374651\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-374651\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-374651 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Churchill Downs, Maine iGaming, tribal gaming monopoly, Wabanaki Nations, Equal Protection Clause\" width=\"858\" height=\"571\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Oxford-casino-858x571-1.jpg\"><figcaption>The Oxford Casino, owned by Churchill Downs, claims in a new lawsuit that Maine is \u201cpromoting iGaming through race-based preferences.\u201d (Image: Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The operator, which owns the Oxford Casino, one of two land-based gaming venues in the state, said in a federal lawsuit filed Friday that if the legislature wants iGaming in Maine, \u201cit should give everyone a fair chance to compete, without regard to race or citizenship, as both the United States and Maine Constitutions require.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this month, the state\u2019s Democratic governor, Janet Mills, allowed a bill to become law that lets the tribes, known collectively as the Wabanaki Nations, partner with commercial operators to offer iGaming exclusively. The legislature has already granted them a monopoly on sports betting in the state.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why Tribal Gaming Looks Different in Maine<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In general, tribes in other states are permitted to operate gaming under certain conditions by the 1988 Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA). But in Maine, things are slightly different.<\/p>\n<p>Under the 1980 Maine Indian Claims Settlement Act (MICSA), tribes were granted a more limited form of sovereignty that didn&#8217;t include the right to conduct gaming on tribal lands. As a result, tribal reservations are treated like municipalities and are therefore subject to state law. The iGaming and sports betting monopolies were an effort by the legislature to redress this imbalance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p>Churchill Downs argues that tribal iGaming will cannibalize the land-based market, pointing to a recent study by the Innovation Group that claimed land-based casino revenue drops by 16% on average after iGaming is introduced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The same study estimates iGaming in Maine would lead to approximately 378 lost jobs, $22 million in lost labor income, and $60 million in lost value throughout the economy.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Shakier Ground<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Tribes in other states have previously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/scotus-ends-maverick-gamings-challenge-to-washington-tribal-betting\/\">survived challenges<\/a> to gaming monopolies largely because they are protected by sovereign immunity and because tribal gaming compacts are an acknowledged legal entitlement under IGRA. But as Churchill Downs points out in its lawsuit, Maine\u2019s tribes are on shakier ground because state \u201claws governing gambling operations treat Maine\u2019s Indian Tribes as businesses, not as sovereigns.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p>Promoting iGaming through race-based preferences deals a gut-wrenching blow to Maine businesses like Oxford Casino that have heavily invested in the state and its people,\u201d the lawsuit states.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In 2003, Maine voters overwhelmingly rejected a public referendum that would have authorized a $650 million tribal casino in southern Maine, defeating the measure by a 2\u20131 margin. In the same election, voters approved a separate ballot initiative allowing slot machine gaming at the Bangor racino. The episode continues to rankle Maine\u2019s tribes, which have said the contrasting outcomes reflected racial bias.<\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/churchill-downs-sues-maine-over-race-based-tribal-igaming-monopoly\/\">Churchill Downs Sues Maine Over \u2018Race-Based\u2019 Tribal iGaming Monopoly<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Churchill Downs challenges Maine\u2019s exclusive tribal iGaming authorization in federal court Lawsuit argues tribal monopoly violates Equal Protection clauses Operator warns online gaming will cannibalize land-based casinos and jobs Churchill Downs is suing Maine\u2019s gambling regulator, arguing that the decision to grant an online gaming monopoly to its federally recognized tribes is \u201crace-based\u201d and violates&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":815,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/815"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}