Seven Sportsbooks to Go Live in Maryland on Wednesday Morning
AP Photo/Terrance Williams. Pictured: Demarcus Robinson, Lamar Jackson.
Maryland sports betting will officially go live at 9 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Gov. Larry Hogan has announced.
Hogan said Tuesday that seven sportsbooks will launch Wednesday morning. Ten sportsbooks were granted official licenses to operate in the state last week by the Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission, but three of them will wait to launch until 2023.
The seven online sportsbooks that will launch on Wednesday are:
Betfred, betPARX and Fanatics are expected to go online early next year.
Maryland sports bettors got a taste of legal betting on Monday before a planned dark period. Betting was only live from 2 p.m. until 10 p.m. in a “soft launch” period. The Maryland State Lottery & Gaming Control Agency wanted to test the seven approved sportsbooks to make sure everything worked and all measures were in place before they went fully live with no restrictions on Wednesday.
By our count, Maryland is the first state to ever do something like this. There have been “soft launches” by specific books as they gear up to launch in a new state, but entire states usually don’t open up betting to approved books, then completely turn it off for 1-2 days.
Maryland has already had one of the longest go-live periods in U.S. sports betting history after legalizing it during the 2020 election. Most states go live within 6-12 months, and at most 18 months because they need to draft regulations, approve books, etc.
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 and it’s likely the state never gets there.
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