Applications to offer online sports betting in Maryland could start rolling into regulators this summer, but that may not be fast enough for the state's chief executive.
Tom Brandt, chairman of Maryland’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC), said Thursday that the group’s mobile sports betting application is expected to be published this summer. SWARC should start accepting applications shortly after, he added.
“I understand that many are frustrated that the process relating to the issuance of Maryland's mobile sports wagering licenses has been time-consuming,” Brandt said during a SWARC meeting on Thursday. “I also want everyone to know that SWARC and its support team have been operating as diligently and deliberately as we can under the Maryland sports wagering law that we're tasked to administer.”
Brandt’s comments were in response to a recent letter from Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, who is pushing the commission to hurry up and get online sports betting off the ground in his state.
Today I called on the legislature’s Sports Wagering and Application Review Commission to take immediate actions to launch mobile sports betting in Maryland for the NFL season.
— Governor Larry Hogan (@GovLarryHogan) June 15, 2022
Read my full letter: https://t.co/uUWRRlonoR pic.twitter.com/VrqWaOzimS
Hogan wrote a letter to commission members on Tuesday urging them to "act immediately so that mobile sports wagering" can start in Maryland before the beginning of the National Football League's regular season on September 8.
"To make that target date achievable, it is imperative that you immediately accelerate and intensify your efforts," Hogan wrote. "Marylanders have grown frustrated waiting for mobile sports wagering as they have watched it become available in state after state across the country, including our neighboring jurisdictions of Delaware, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C.”
Hogan noted it has been almost two years since voters in the state approved sports wagering via a ballot measure and more than a year since he signed a sports-betting bill into law.
However, Hogan said the commission has "allowed the process to stagnate and become mired in overly bureaucratic procedures" that have caused delays. This, he wrote, is the "byproduct of an overly-complex piece of legislation that was skewed to appease special interest groups and organizations," in addition to other bureaucratic and legal matters gumming up the works.
"With only five physical locations in the state currently accepting sports wagers, Maryland is losing tens of millions of dollars in economic investment and education revenue that should be going toward our public schools and students,” the governor said. “Not surprisingly, many Marylanders are traveling outside of the state to place their wagers."
TBD on timeline
But Brandt said Maryland's law is "particularly complex" because there is a deliberate effort to enable small, minority, and women-owned businesses to participate in the industry. The same law also requires SWARC to take several steps before issuing licenses, such as evaluating a study to determine if there is a need to implement "remedial measures" to assist minorities and women. That study is ongoing.
The chairman added that drafts of preliminary regulations and applications will be delivered to SWARC members early next week and that he intends for the commission to take action on those documents at a special meeting in the next few weeks.
“These steps are necessary for SWARC to set forth a sports wagering application evaluation process that is legally sound, and to the maximum extent permissible by law, allows SWARC to seek to achieve racial, ethnic, and gender diversity when awarding the sports wagering licenses,” Brandt said, adding later that “as other tasks are completed, SWARC will be in a better position to provide a timeline as to license issuances.”
Maryland’s model for legal sports betting authorizes SWARC to run a competitive process to award up to 30 retail licenses and 60 mobile licenses. That’s in addition to 17 “named” entities in the law that are eligible to run brick-and-mortar sportsbooks at their facilities, such as the state’s casinos.
However, while sportsbooks are operational at five casinos in Maryland, there are no legal online betting options in the state yet.
Getting the ball rolling
Hogan has now asked the SWARC to prioritize the awarding of mobile licenses for any of the retail entities named in the state's sports-betting law that have already been found qualified by Maryland Lottery and Gaming, and that want to offer online betting. He also pressed the commission to take several other steps, including setting a "firm and transparent timeline" for mobile sports betting at Thursday's meeting, which didn't happen.
"Mobile sports wagering will be dominant in Maryland, just as it is in other states, with estimates that 80% to 90% of all wagers will be made via mobile devices," Hogan added. "The ongoing delay is preventing Maryland from fully and properly tapping into this market."
While Hogan may not be getting exactly what he wants, Maryland regulators are claiming progress on other fronts. For instance, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission announced on Thursday that it will open an online licensing platform on Friday.
Businesses and individuals interested in mobile wagering permits will be able to ask for access to the online system, which they must use to start their background investigations, a press release said. That process will be in addition to the SWARC application that businesses must complete.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming is the regulator that decides if a business is qualified for a sports-betting license, while SWARC is responsible for ranking applications and determining if awarding permits is in the public interest. SWARC cannot issue a license to unqualified applicants.
“The MLGCC’s investigations and the SWARC’s application process may not have the same starting point, but it’s always been the plan for them to unfold on parallel tracks,” Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin said in the release. “Some investigations could take several months, so now is a great opportunity for all potential applicants to get the ball rolling.”
