The Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission awarded 10 mobile sports betting licenses Wednesday. A launch of legal sports wagering in the state is imminent, although no official go-live date has been shared by the SWARC or state lottery.
The awarding of licenses gives 10 mobile sportsbooks a chance to go live in Maryland in the near future. Here’s the list of the 10 operators:
- Barstool Sportsbook
- Betfred
- BetMGM
- betPARX
- BetRivers
- Caesars Sportsbook
- DraftKings
- Fanatics
- FanDuel
- PointsBet
When will sportsbooks go live?
Each of the operators need to go through controlled demonstrations with the Maryland Lottery before being able to launch. That process will likely take a few days, as it consists of sports betting operators going live for a short period of time before then going offline while the lottery reviews how everything went.
The timing of the controlled demonstrations has not been shared publicly by the Maryland Lottery. Interestingly, however, Caesars Sportsbook’s mobile app had a banner advertisement yesterday saying, “Betting starts November 23rd.” The operator has since removed the ad.
The Caesars Sportsbook app has a banner advertisement that says mobile betting in Maryland will start on Nov. 23. 👀👀👀 (h/t @NyeJoe)
The lottery and SWARC have yet to officially share a launch date for mobile. pic.twitter.com/Lx5WuajOXB
— Bennett Conlin (@BennettConlin) November 15, 2022
A press release from the Maryland Lottery also alluded to a pre-Thanksgiving launch. While the lottery hasn’t confirmed an official timeline, it’s probable that mobile sportsbooks will be live in Maryland in about a week.
Not all 10 operators are expected to go live next week, however. Fanatics is among the sportsbooks that will likely go live in 2023, rather than 2022.
SWARC’s Dec. 14 meeting
Monday’s lottery press release shared that the SWARC received 21 mobile license applications during its first application window. That means there are 11 additional mobile applications for the group to consider, although the SWARC has not revealed the names of those 11 operators. Maryland legislation allows for up to 60 mobile operators in the state.
The SWARC expects to meet again on Dec. 14, and it’s possible some of those 11 additional applicants could be awarded licenses at that point. That would pave the way for more mobile sportsbooks to go live in Maryland by the end of 2022 or in early 2023.
