Maryland on Track to Launch Online Sports Betting This Month
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images. Pictured: Carson Wentz.
Legal online sports betting is on track to launch in Maryland before the end of this month.
The Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission will convene Wednesday to award online sports betting licenses, officials said on Monday. The SWARC moved up its meeting date, which was originally scheduled for next week.
“We had originally planned our next meeting to be Nov. 21, but we’ve been working with our consultants from Taft Stettinius & Hollister and Spectrum Gaming Group to accelerate the pace and hold it earlier,” SWARC Chairman Thomas Brandt said in a press release. “We thank them for their diligence and professionalism through this process.”
The reason this announcement is important is because it signifies a shift in the expected launch date of online sportsbooks in Maryland. An early December go-live date was possible if the SWARC maintained its original meeting schedule, but the accelerated timeline to award mobile licenses would seem to make a November launch more likely.
Expected Maryland Online Sportsbooks
Ten sports betting apps have applied to operate in Maryland. Most of these operators already have some sort of physical or retail presence in the state, which should expedite the approval process. Here are the 10 mobile sports betting applications the SWARC will consider at Wednesday's meeting:
Once the sportsbooks are awarded official licenses by the SWARC, the operators are then required to go through controlled testing with the Maryland Lottery to ensure any launch would run smoothly. This process takes a couple of days, but as long as all goes according to plan, the mobile sportsbooks can begin operations soon afterward.
Maryland could eventually license up to 60 online sportsbooks under its 2020 ballot measure, though it could take years for so many to apply.
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