Maryland will commence online sports betting action in time for Thanksgiving, with the state to permit players to take up the activity from Wednesday 23 November.
This ends a long, and for Governor Larry Hogan frustrating, wait to join the US’ online gambling ecosystem, with Maryland Lottery officials confirming, should final approval be issued, the ten entities that received licences can commence mobile wagering one day before the Thanksgiving holiday.
Yesterday, the region’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission issued an initial 10 certifications to a range of the state’s organisations.
These regulatory green-lights were issued to Bingo World (BetRivers), BetMGM Maryland Sports (BetMGM), Crown Maryland Gaming (DraftKings), CZR Maryland Mobile Opportunity (Caesars), Live Casino! and Hotel (FanDuel), Penn Maryland/Hollywood Casino (Barstool Sportsbook), Riverboat on the Potomac (PointsBet), Greenmount (Parx Interactive), Long Shot’s (Betfred) and Maryland Stadium Sub (Fanatics Sportsbook). Although, it has been confirmed by local media that the latter trifecta will not be ready in time to meet the aforementioned launch date.
Upon issuing the certification, SWARC cautioned that this does not permit each to begin taking wagers immediately, with those businesses listed to work alongside the Maryland Lottery and Gaming to complete operational requirements before a final approval is issued.
This has been a long time coming for the region, with Hogan having pleaded for immediate action in June after heaping criticism on the lack of progress made to get the ecosystem live.
The governor had called for immediate acceleration and intensification of efforts to ensure that a go-live date preempted the start of the National Football League regular season on September 8, 2022.
“Today we are proud to report that sports fans can finally plan for the official launch of mobile sports betting in the State of Maryland,” Hogan said earlier in the week.
“To reach this point, we have had to overcome countless legal, political, and bureaucratic delays that threatened to push back the launch past the Super Bowl next year.”
