If you want to place a bet on the Orioles in Maryland, there are a number of places to do so: MGM National Harbor, Live! Casino, Horseshoe Casino, Hollywood Casino, and Ocean Downs Casino, to name a handful.
But if you want the convenience of betting online or using your phone, you have to wait a while. Authorities have no firm date, but hope the launch can occur while the NFL is still playing in 2022.
“Football tends to attract more wagering than other sports, and beyond that, the real revenue potential is in mobile,” said John Martin, director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. “When the market is fully launched, including mobile, our back-of-the-envelope estimate is that sports wagering will contribute roughly $30 million a year to Maryland.”
The Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (MSWARC), the agency charged with awarding sports betting licenses, is focused on completing an industry analysis before beginning the process of dishing out online licenses. Martin expects the study to be finalized in the next couple of months, according to Saturday Tradition. That puts licensing to begin sometime in August or September.
Since it could take months for the licensing and testing process, the debut on mobile wagering may have to wait till late 2022 or even into 2023.
The MSWARC approved three off-track betting venues: Riverboat on the Potomac, Long Shot’s, and Greenmount Station. All three are readying their locations to accept bets. Bingo World in Anne Arundel County received the last of the licenses for the moment.
At least two of the four should be ready to take wagers by summer.
“They are completing a number of operational procedures that are required before they can launch, and in some cases, they are doing construction of their sports wagering areas, so we are moving at their pace,” Martin said.
