After a successful test launch, Maryland sports betting apps are set to launch Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 9 a.m., just in time for Thanksgiving football and most of the FIFA World Cup.
Gov. Larry Hogan announced the official launch time at a press conference Tuesday, about 12 hours after online sportsbooks took their first bets during a brief “controlled demonstration” held by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.
FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Caesars, Barstool, PointsBet, BetRivers each participated and have been cleared by the Lottery for Wednesday’s official launch.
As many as two-dozen apps could be live before next September, Maryland Lottery Director John Martin said, appearing next to Hogan on Tuesday. Maryland’s law allows up to 60 online sportsbooks, though it could take years for so many.
The announcement “marks the culmination of literarily years of effort to get sport betting up and running in the state of Maryland,” Hogan said.
Marylanders legalized online and in-person sports betting via a ballot referendum over two years ago. Though in-person betting started at casinos last year, online launch had been held up on account of a diversity and inclusion study from the Attorney General’s office, that ultimately never bore information regulators could use.
Hogan, who demanded in June that regulators expedite licensing, took credit for speeding up the delayed launch.
“When it came to getting sports betting up and running they allowed the process to be bogged down. It seemed to be one excuse and one obstruction after another,” Hogan said. “Our administration has been pushing everyone to implement the voters decision as efficiently and as quickly as possible.
Insider Access first week FREE. Click here for more information.
When Maryland’s online betting market officially launches it will mark the end of the longest delay any state’s had attempting to take first bets after legalizing sports betting.
There’d been speculation Maryland could miss most of the 2022 NFL season, but with online apps going live Wednesday morning the state should still capture significant revenue from seven weeks of regular-season football and the entire NFL postseason.
Between the larger sports calendar and cold weather keeping fans indoors, fall and winter months are typically the best time of the year for sportsbooks.
The addition of the FIFA World Cup, which is traditionally played in the summer, could make this end-of-year stretch the most legally bet period in U.S. history.
Transaction volumes on sports betting apps are up roughly 50% week over week, since group stage action began, according to David Briggs, director and co-Founder of GeoComply, which monitors online gaming activity.
Maryland is expected to generate over $123 million in online gaming revenue in its first 12 months online, according to Spectrum Gaming. That would translate to about $26.4 million in taxes for state education.
