Legal Mobile Sports Betting in Maryland is Still Months Away

Dave Schwab Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

The process to legalize sports betting in Maryland has been an adventure to say the least. It all started with a voter referendum in November’s general election in 2020. After gaining approval from the voters, state lawmakers worked hard to get the proper legislation in place.

Governor Larry Hogan signed that legislation into law in May of 2021 and the process to regulate the new industry got underway. Running into various roadblocks, Maryland’s goal of going live in September on that same year fell well short.

As a way to salvage the end of the football season, special provisions were put into place to launch legal retail sports betting. That took place in December of 2021 at in-state casinos.

The first retail sportsbook in Maryland opened at MGM National Harbor on Dec. 9. Operated by BetMGM, this casino is the closest to Washington DC.

FanDuel opened its retail book at Live! Casino & Hotel and Caesars starting taking bets at its Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore on Dec. 10. The two other Maryland casinos with retail sportsbooks are Ocean Downs Casino (TwinSpires) and Hollywood Casino (Barstool Sportsbook).

Those five retail books posted a $16.5 million sports betting handle in December.  Additional retail books in three off-track betting venues have been given the green light to open as well.

The issue at hand is legal online sports betting through mobile sportsbook apps. What appeared to be a minor delay in the process has turned into an extended waiting period.

The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) was put in charge of the application process. The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency (MLGCA) are responsible for issuing the actual sports betting licenses.

State law calls for a total of 17 retail facilities and up to 60 mobile betting licenses. While the process to issue licenses for retail locations remains on track, mobile betting has been temporarily derailed.

The delay is expected to last months with a possible launch in the fall of this year. The delay can be mainly attributed to SWARC, who has yet to finalize the regulations for legal mobile sports betting.

Without the final regulations in place, MLGCA cannot begin the vetting process for mobile applicants. In a Jan. 19 document issued by SWARC, it was mentioned that the legal team “is working to establish the license application process for the Class B Competitive Licenses and the Mobile Licenses.”

Class B licenses pertain to 30 additional retail and small venue locations. The mobile licenses are a much bigger issue for the legal sports betting industry in Maryland as a whole.

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