Maryland has approved licensing for its ninth brick-and-mortar sportsbook, the Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) granting a sports wagering facility license to Bingo World in Anne Arundel County.
Five retail sportsbooks have already begun operations, with the other four still facing the final step in the process, a controlled demonstration with invited guests participating in live wagering under the observation of officials from the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.
While retail licenses continue to be added, the online sportsbooks—expected to garner the lion’s share of wagering—are month away, as SWARC awaits the results of a “disparity study” it recently began. “It only took six months for that engagement to get off the ground,” SWARC Chairman Tom Brandt said during a meeting of the commission last week, according to covers.com. “I’m confident it’s going to be worthwhile.”
