The list of applicants looking to lock down the first batch of licenses for mobile sports betting in Maryland is a who’s who of the industry’s usual suspects.
According to the agenda for this week's meeting of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission (MLGCC), there are at least 10 operators of online sportsbooks applying for permits thus far in the Old Line State.
Those operators are:
- Caesars Sportsbook
- FanDuel
- Betfred
- BetMGM
- DraftKings
- Fanatics
- Parx
- Barstool Sportsbook
- PointsBet
- BetRivers
The online sports wagering operator licenses sought by the above companies would allow them to accept bets on behalf of a mobile sports betting licensee.
Nine mobile license applications will be before the commission on Thursday, including from entities tied to BetMGM, DraftKings, and brick-and-mortar gaming facilities such as the Riverboat on the Potomac, which has a retail partnership with PointsBet.
Thursday's meeting will determine if the 10 online and nine mobile applicants are qualified to hold a license. If the MLGCC finds that is the case, the nine mobile applications will progress to Maryland’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC), which will decide on November 21 whether to issue permits. The online operator permits do not require SWARC approval.
After the SWARC awards licenses, and following a final review by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, mobile applicants could be issued their permits by the regulator and online sports betting could finally begin in the state.
Finding alternatives
Maryland voters approved sports betting in November 2020, and retail wagering began in December 2021. However, online sports betting has yet to launch in the state, irritating bettors and the state’s governor.
Regulators in Maryland are trying to fix that and opened a 45-day window for businesses to apply for mobile licenses in September that closed on October 21. There is optimism that a mobile launch will happen by late November or early December, allowing bettors to wager on at least part of the National Football League’s uber-popular regular season.
Still, Maryland’s sports-betting law allows for up to 60 mobile sports betting licenses to be issued. Only about a sixth of those licenses will be considered on Thursday, leaving plenty of room for other applicants.
However, regulators are feeling the pressure to launch mobile wagering and are applying “alternative” licensing standards to move the process along. Those standards allow regulators to qualify an applicant more quickly if they hold similar licenses in Maryland or other states.
The sportsbook operators that will be subject to qualification hearings on Thursday do hold other licenses, making them eligible for the alternative standards.
“Staff recommends that the Commission find BetMGM, LLC qualified for an Online Sports Wagering Operator License based on the alternative licensing standards provisions in the Sports Wagering Law by clear and convincing evidence,” one set of commission documents says.
