{"id":244038,"date":"2022-11-18T09:36:55","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T15:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=244038"},"modified":"2022-11-18T10:08:19","modified_gmt":"2022-11-18T16:08:19","slug":"maryland-online-sports-betting-start-nov-23-ahead-thanksgiving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/maryland-online-sports-betting-start-nov-23-ahead-thanksgiving\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Online Sports Betting to Start Ahead of Thanksgiving NFL Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maryland online sports betting will begin next week on Wednesday, November 23. The long-awaited kickoff comes just hours before the NFL serves up its traditional Thanksgiving feast of games.<\/p>\n

\"Maryland
Beginning Nov. 23, 2022, Maryland sports bettors will be able to place their wagers from the convenience of their smartphone or another mobile device. Online sports betting is finally arriving in the Old Line State more than two years after voters legalized such gambling. (Image: AP<\/em>\/Casino.org<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Marylanders amended the state constitution through a 2020 ballot referendum. The vote added sports betting to the state’s permitted forms of commercial gambling.<\/p>\n

The state subsequently passed legislation that set the regulatory framework for allowing gambling on college and professional sports. But the bill Republican Gov. Larry Hogan signed in May 2021 mandated that the newly formed Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) take considerable measures to provide “equity” in the state’s expansion of gaming.<\/p>\n

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Specifically, Maryland’s sports betting bill required SWARC to embark on a good-faith effort to issue the sportsbook operator licenses in an equitable manner. The state’s casinos were swiftly deemed suitable to receive in-person sportsbook licenses. That’s because they already meet a slew of state-ordered diversity metrics. Retail sports betting began in December 2021.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

A lengthy “disparity analysis” reviewing potential shortcomings in other states that have legalized online sports betting was blamed for SWARC’s lengthy process. The industry review was to determine whether minorities and diverse small businesses were discriminated against in other states, albeit unintentionally. That’s because those states didn’t value race- or gender-based grading criteria in their application processes.<\/p>\n

Review Canned, Launch Imminent<\/b><\/h2>\n

Facing criticism, SWARC requested and received legislative approval to ditch the disparity analysis review and expedite the issuance of online sportsbook permits. The state gaming agency decided to instead require that each licensed online sportsbook regularly update the state on its diversity ownership and employment statistics, and on how the entity might improve its minority involvement in the forthcoming year.<\/p>\n

Neither SWARC nor the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission (MLGCC) can revoke an online sportsbook license solely on the grounds that an inadequate number of minorities are involved with a license.<\/strong><\/p>\n

SWARC earlier this week approved its first batch of mobile sportsbook applicants<\/a>. The online operators are now amid a regulatory review of their operations overseen by the MLGCC.<\/p>\n

Maryland’s First 10 Online Sportsbooks<\/strong><\/h3>\n