Regulators in the Old Line State have a growing list of sports betting sites they are setting up to launch in the not-too-distant future.
More would-be operators of legal sports betting businesses were found qualified on Thursday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission (MLGCC).
The businesses included SuperBook, which was deemed qualified for licenses to offer retail and mobile sports betting in Maryland.
Applications from those companies will now go before the state's Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC), which is scheduled to meet next on February 15 and is expected to consider awarding licenses at that time.
“As these businesses await SWARC’s license awards, they are working with Maryland Lottery and Gaming staff to fulfill operational requirements,” the commission said in a press release. “After being awarded a license by SWARC, each business must conduct a controlled demonstration, ensuring that its systems and internal control procedures are functioning correctly.”
Turtles and Crab
The MLGCC added that once a business has completed all of those steps, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency can issue a license and the company can start taking bets. When exactly a controlled demonstration and launch will happen for those businesses is still to be determined, the commission added.
The other companies found suitable on Thursday were Kathe P. Hospitality (a retail applicant), Canton Gaming LLC (which wants to open sportsbooks at two Greene Turtle Sports Bar & Grille locations), and Crab Sports Maryland (which wants to offer mobile sports betting).
Crab Sports is a relatively new company, incorporated in Delaware in October 2021, that wants to offer mobile sports betting. The company is working with Malta-based Gaming Innovation Group for its online sportsbook.
Canton Gaming is partnering with betPARX to run its sportsbooks. Kathe P. Hospitality has yet to pick a platform provider.
SuperBook, meanwhile, is partnered with the Baltimore Orioles. The MLB team said in August that it plans on opening a sports-betting lounge at Camden Yards this year.
The current roster
In the meantime, there are 10 retail and seven online sportsbooks taking bets in Maryland. Retail sports betting began in the state in December 2021, while mobile wagering started in November 2022.
More online sportsbooks should be added to the state's wagering market soon, as the SWARC already awarded licenses to companies connected to Bally Bet and WynnBET. Those operators have yet to launch in Maryland.
The number of retail facilities also grew recently with the opening of the Fanatics sportsbook at FedEx Field, the Washington Commanders stadium in Landover, Md.
“On Jan. 12 and Jan. 17, Maryland Stadium Sub and its operator partner Fanatics completed two days of controlled demonstrations, during which guests participated in live wagering as Maryland Lottery and Gaming staff ensured the facility complied with all required procedures, and that its systems and revenue reporting controls functioned properly,” Maryland Lottery and Gaming said on January 20. “Maryland Stadium Sub is among the 17 entities that were designated in Maryland’s sports wagering law to operate retail sportsbooks, pending a review of their operational readiness, and is the 10th facility to open.”
