Two more operators are well on their way to offering online sports betting in Maryland, which should help ratchet up the competition in the state’s recently opened market for mobile wagering.
On Thursday, the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission found companies connected to Bally Bet and WynnBET as qualified for licenses to operate online sports betting sites in the Old Line State.
That approval moves the applications to Maryland’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC), which could decide whether to award licenses to the two bookmakers at a meeting later this month. In the meantime, the two companies are working with Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency staff to meet other operational criteria.
“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,” a Maryland Lottery and Gaming press release stated. “Once a business has successfully completed these steps, Maryland Lottery and Gaming is authorized to issue a license allowing the business to begin operations.”
And here's the press release after this morning's meeting of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission, during which state regulators found @BallyBet and @WynnBET were qualified to hold mobile sports betting licenses. https://t.co/fFcu5DgVjp pic.twitter.com/istr0hZJVa
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) December 1, 2022
The regulator added that the timeline for the launch of either Bally Bet or WynnBET in the state is undecided. An application connected to Betway had been on the initial agenda for Thursday's meeting as well, but it was not on a revised agenda published later in the week.
Still, Thursday’s qualification hearings mean that two more online sportsbooks are poised to launch in Maryland in the near future, just a week after mobile wagering finally began in the state.
Seven operators are already taking bets in Maryland, but 21 applied for mobile sports betting licenses, meaning the market will continue to get more competitive. Maryland’s sports-betting law allows for up to 60 mobile licenses in total to be awarded.
Maryland voters approved legal sports betting in a November 2020 referendum. Retail sports betting began at Maryland casinos in December of 2021.
