Maryland Regulators Delay Decision on Initial Sports Betting Licenses

Dave Schwab Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

It has now been more than a year since Maryland voters approved a referendum to legalize sports betting. However, the process to actually launch legal sports betting drags on.

The initial goal to go live in time for the start of this year’s football season never materialized. Recent efforts have paved the way for a possible launch of retail sports betting by the end of the year.

Everything remains up in the air heading into the holiday season. Five in-state casinos have cleared the first step of the licensing process. This included a legal and technical review by Maryland Lottery officials.

The next step includes the approval by the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission. Following a recent meeting, this commission has requested more information from each of the casinos.

That list includes Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, Hollywood Casino Perryville, MGM National Harbor, Live! Casino & Hotel in Hanover and Ocean Downs Casino in Berlin.

Thomas Brandt Jr. was appointed chair of this commission by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. He noted the decision was tied to written legal advice. Another meeting on the matter has been planned for later in November.

Growing frustration over the matter is causing friction between Gov. Hogan and certain state legislative leaders. The governor believes the process is being intentionally stalled. The initial approval for the five casinos took place “many weeks ago.”

In an extended statement, Gov. Hogan claimed:

“If, in fact, they don’t act immediately and approve those, and if the legislature has their way in violating the law, then it’s going to be at least a year or more before anyone gets the ability to do gambling in Maryland, sports betting, and potentially it could kill the entire deal.”

State Senate President Bill Ferguson issued the following response to the governor’s statement:

“I wholeheartedly trust in the ability of the independent commissioners – including the governor’s own appointed representatives – to consider all information and use their best judgement to issue licenses fairly.”

The original ballot measure was approved by a 2-to-1 margin last November. However, the legal and regulatory process to bring sports betting to market continues to delay the actual launch.

Including the five casinos, laws on the books have provisions for up to 17 retail sportsbooks in the state. An appreciable amount of licenses have been allocated for online sports betting through mobile sportsbook operators.

The state will receive 15% of the proceeds from legal sports betting revenue. This could add up to $100 million a year once the industry reaches a certain level of capacity. Most of the state’s revenue has been earmarked for education and improving the public school system.

Written by Dave Schwab, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.

Dave Schwab

Dave Schwab has been covering the sports betting industry for the past 12 years as the main focus of his specialty marketing company for online content. This endeavor followed a previous career in the field of sales and marketing in the wholesaling sector.Most of his weekly pieces focus on the rapidly expanding legal US sports betting industry. However, he still does extensive work covering betting angles that can provide a competitive edge to avid players. Dave believes that it is always a challenge to take past results and current form to try and correctly determine a future result. Sports brings out the unpredictability in what should be a fairly predictable outcome based on the stats, facts and recent trends in a particular matchup. More from Dave Schwab