Five Maryland Sports Betting Licenses Have Been Awarded

This past Thursday, the first five Maryland sports betting licenses were awarded by the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission. This was after a long discussion around the subject of inclusion. The Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission had a 5-2 vote to approve the licenses.

The retail sportsbooks will most likely open toward the beginning of the year, around January 1st, 2022. This is according to John Martin, the director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency and a timeline he laid out.

Commissioner E. Randolph Marriner is also the chairman of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission. According to him, he feels that it is their duty to pass people who have met the qualification. This is because the state of Maryland loses possible revenue for every day they do not.

In addition to holding the vote for the five licenses, the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission discussed how the commissioners can establish a procedure to award competitive Class B as well as mobile licenses. John Martin has indicated that it will probably be another year before Maryland mobile sports betting will be able to launch in the state.

The five casinos that were awarded retail sports betting licenses by the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission also received Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency alternative licensing standards previously.

These casinos are:

• Hollywood Casino (Penn National Gaming)
• Horseshoe Baltimore (Caesars Sportsbook)
• Ocean Downs Casino (TwinSpires)
• MGM National Harbor (BetMGM)
• Live! Casino and Hotel (FanDuel Sportsbook)

The Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency staff will still need to approve the operations of these retail sportsbooks. According to John Martin, this could take anywhere from thirty to forty five days. At a meeting this past Thursday afternoon, the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency voted to delegate the authority to issue sports betting licenses.

During Thursday’s meeting, just like the MLGCC had previously approved alternative licensing standards for the five other casinos before, the same was approved for a PointsBet Sportsbook at the Riverboat on the Potomac. Of the seventeen establishments that have been earmarked in legislation for retail sportsbooks, fourteen have begun the application process.

There is a legislative directive that should ensure minority and women owned business involvement in the Maryland sports betting industry. And, this has caused the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission some concern since the five applicants do not have a majority of minority or women ownership.

This is why Commissioner Frank Turner and Commissioner Cassandra Stevenson voted no. Plus, Commissioner Turner indicated that he felt he was being rushed. Meanwhile, Commissioner Rosie Allen-Herring has indicated her wish that the legislation has not earmarked licenses. She also stated she wished applicants with diverse ownership had been included in the early group of applicants, but she still voted yes.

However, some of these worries should be addressed soon. There are a few retail sportsbook license applicants that have been established in the legislation that do have ownership that is minority and/or women. At the last meeting of the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission, the commissioners requested additional information about the ownership of the seventeen named entities.

Supplemental ownership information has been given from eleven of the establishments.

Guidelines and regulations for Maryland mobile sports betting have not been established yet by the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission. It is believed that up to 95% of the state’s sports betting revenue will come from mobile sports betting.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.