Wrapping up the state legislative session on Monday, Maryland lawmakers passed a bill that would legalize sports betting later this year.
The legislation is both less restrictive and more competitive than the first version drawn up at the start of the session, as lawmakers went out of their way to ensure smaller and minority-owned businesses would have the chance to get involved.
Right now, Annapolis insiders say there鈥檚 little reason to think Gov. Larry Hogan won鈥檛 sign the measure into law. For state government, that means lots of tax revenue.
Lawmakers were working on sports betting during the 2020 legislative session, but it took time to reach an agreement that worked for all the interested parties.
In particular, pressure from the state鈥檚 legislative Black caucus to make sure that smaller and minority-owned businesses could cut their own pieces of the pie. And that increased competition is better for residents placing a wager too.
鈥淭he state has now allowed up to 60 sportsbook applicants to apply for an online license, so it鈥檚 pretty much a free market at this point,鈥� said Sara Slane, a D.C.-area sports betting and casino gaming executive.
鈥淭hey added a lot on the retail side as well, so I think there will be plenty of opportunities for sportsbook operators to get into the state of Maryland,鈥� Slane added.
If 60 applicants seems like a lot, you鈥檙e not wrong. By comparison, Virginia allows for 15 statewide, while the District allows just one operator to offer mobile betting citywide.
鈥淭ypically, those licenses are tethered to existing brick and mortar facilities in the state,鈥� said Slane.
“I’m not sure the existing brick-and-mortar casino operators are entirely happy with the way it ended up shaking out, but I think at the end of the day they鈥檙e happy this bill passed and that they can move forward now.鈥�
The fact that mobile licenses aren鈥檛 鈥渢ethered鈥� to brick-and-mortar facilities means those venues that decide to host a physical sportsbook 鈥� including any of the state鈥檚 casinos and professional sports stadiums, or even bars and restaurants that want to host gaming 鈥� will still be competing with mobile apps, which is where most of the betting action around the U.S. happens.
That may cause some restaurant owners to think twice about applying for a license, but Slane says it will still be 鈥渘ice to have鈥� the option.
But sports betting might not be a primary motivator for customers to walk through the doors. With the mobile market already operating in Virginia, it is unlikely that anyone living there will cross state lines to wager on Maryland鈥檚 mobile apps.
In fact, it鈥檚 likely many of the companies already operating in Virginia will also apply to host wagering in Maryland. But Slane said gamblers in the District may be a different story.
鈥淚 think the biggest outlier in this is D.C.,鈥� said Slane. She said the DC Lottery鈥檚 decision to award its only citywide license to the often-criticized Intralot, which is unpopular for both the way the app works and the odds it provides because of its monopoly, means 鈥渋f you鈥檙e [betting] in the District you鈥檙e probably going to go to Virginia or Maryland.”
The Chinatown neighborhood has become the local wagering mecca since gaming began in D.C. last year.
William Hill鈥檚 physical sportsbook at Capital One Arena and its geofenced mobile app (it only works within two blocks of the arena) see exponentially more wagers compared to the Gambet app that operates around the rest of the city, excluding federal zones.
That trend continued in March, which saw , compared with the $3 million-plus wagered on the Gambet app.
鈥淭ypically it鈥檚 the other way around, just because of the accessibility and people being able to bet online versus people having to go somewhere to go place a bet,鈥� said Slane.
鈥淲e鈥檒l see if the neighboring states put pressure on [DC] to expand the offering from one limited operator in the District to opening it up a bit more.鈥�
Shane added: “DC is definitely at a disadvantage to neighboring states.”
