Maryland Wagering Commission Awards 10 Sports Betting Licenses
Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images. Pictured: The University of Maryland mascot waves a Maryland state flag.
Legal Maryland sports betting could launch before Thanksgiving after the state's wagering commission awarded 10 online sports betting licenses at its Wednesday meeting.
The Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission awarded the licenses, but an official launch date, while expected to happen in the next week or two, was not announced by the committee or the state lottery.
A news release by the Maryland Lottery published on Monday hinted that online sports betting could go live in the state by Thanksgiving.
The 10 online sportsbooks that were awarded licenses and will have a chance to go live soon are:
Some of the sportsbooks will not immediately launch when legal mobile sports betting goes live. A couple of operators, like Betfred, are expected to wait until 2023.
Now that the sportsbooks have been awarded official licenses by the SWARC, operators are now 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.
According to the SWARC, 21 mobile license applications were submitted during the first application window, meaning there are an additional 11 applications for the group to consider. SWARC has not yet revealed the names of these operators, but they could award more licenses when the group meets again on Dec. 14.
Maryland could eventually license up to 60 online sportsbooks under its 2020 ballot measure, though it could take years for so many to apply.
How would you rate this article?