Mobile sports betting might launch soon in Maryland

Drawn-out process could be over by Thanksgiving

Mobile sports betting could launch in Maryland by Thanksgiving, as officials said Monday that they slightly accelerated what has been a drawn-out process.

Voters in the state approved sports gambling in a 2020 referendum, and in 2021, Republican Gov. Larry Hogan signed a bill allowing in-person and mobile sports betting. In-person betting began that year, but the launch of online gambling has taken longer. To place bets now, Maryland bettors must either go to a betting facility or drive across state lines and place bets on their cellphones once there, which has frustrated gamblers.

The launch of mobile sports betting has taken longer in Maryland than in other states. That is partially because Maryland has made more of an effort to promote diversity in who has access to the new market, said Robert Linnehan, a sports betting regulatory reporter for XL Media and Saturday Tradition. Maryland officials have sought, as required by state law, to “actively seek to achieve racial, ethnic and gender diversity when awarding licenses.”

The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission planned to review 10 applicants for mobile licenses on Nov. 21, but Monday, the commission announced it would instead review them during a meeting Wednesday.

That does not mean mobile sports betting would launch Wednesday, though. Applicants must then complete “operational requirements” for Maryland Lottery & Gaming to give approval and then complete a “controlled demonstration of its systems and procedures,” the commission wrote in an announcement.

The launch is likely to come by the end of the month, perhaps by Thanksgiving. Hogan has prodded officials to expedite the launch process, writing a letter to the commission in June encouraging its members to “accelerate and intensify” their efforts so mobile sports wagering could begin in time for the start of the NFL season in September, which didn’t happen.

Earlier this year, it appeared that mobile sports betting would not launch until 2023.

“To reach this point, we have had to overcome countless legal, political, and bureaucratic delays that threatened to push back the launch past the Super Bowl next year,” Hogan said in a statement Monday.

“It was completely unacceptable to me, and we spent months pressing for decisive action. Thanks to those efforts, and after repeated interventions by our administration, we now anticipate the launch of mobile sports betting this month, and we are cautiously optimistic that it will be in time for Thanksgiving.”

There is a 15% state tax on sports betting proceeds, and since in-person sports wagering launched last December, Maryland’s sportsbooks have profited more than $30 million, and the state has received about $5.4 million.

Those numbers are expected to increase once mobile betting is launched.

“Mobile wagering will account for the bulk of the revenue from sports wagering,” wrote Tom Brandt, the commission chair, in a statement Monday, “and we’re eager to enable Maryland to enter that market.”