Maryland House Passes Sports Betting Bill, Heads to Senate

While the residents of Maryland voted to legalize sports betting, it has yet to launch as congress still needs to work on all of the details. However, the first step was achieved when the Maryland State House finally passed HB 940, a bill that provides the legal and regulatory framework around sports betting.

Now that the bill has passed in the house, HB 940 will be mauled over in the State Senate. If passed there, then the bill will go through, and the work to get sports betting launched in Maryland will begin. However, despite passing in the House with ease, the Senate may be a different story with revisions coming into play. This is not a sure yes from the Senate, as of yet.

HB 940 Licensing Details

The amount of licenses available according to the bill is very specific. There will be 12 automatically gifted retail licenses. These will go to the casinos, racetracks, fairground, and the off-track betting site in the state. On top of these 12 main licenses, there will also be 10 licenses introduced for retail sports betting that will go under a competitive bidding process. This may include casinos looking to join the Maryland market and more.

For mobile betting, there will be 15 licenses open to bidding in the state. This means that the likes of DraftKings, FanDeul, BetMGM, William Hill, Fox, and more will need to bid in order to reserve a spot in Maryland. While 15 licenses may sound like a lot, the bidding may still reach astronomical levels as Maryland is a very lucrative potential state for these mobile operators.

The major sports venues within the state also may be granted special licenses for sports betting on site. The Baltimore Ravens, Baltimore Orioles, and Washington Football Team are all eligible to have sports betting licenses at their home e stadium.

Revenue Details

After successfully winning a bid to run sports gambling, the sports betting licenses’ renewal fee will be 1% of the revenue that the sportsbook generated over the past three years. This could be a massive amount and is a smart and fair play by the Maryland legislative body.

Since the licenses open up as a competitive bid, there is no telling how much revenue Maryland will garner even before the betting goes live.

2021 Sports Betting?

It is clear that the NFL season is the most lucrative time period for sports betting. The sportsbooks and State alike would like to get launched in time or during the 2021 NFL season. However, with how complicated the licensing process can get, especially with open bidding, this is no sure thing.

There is also the Senate to worry about. If this bill does not pass the Senate, then there will be little to no chance of sports betting in Maryland in 2021. However, even if it does, 2022 may be the more realistic date for operations to begin.

Retail sports betting, specifically the locations with automatic licensing, will most likely open up and launch first in the state. Mobile wagering will take a bit longer to get going.