Thanks to the support of voters in last year’s referendum and the approval of a new sports betting bill in April, sports betting will soon be available in Maryland.
Maryland has been clearing the legal roadblocks at a rapid rate in order to make sports betting a reality. Last November, voters made an amendment to the constitution to legalize sports betting for the first time.
Maryland’s Senate and House passed a mobile sports betting law on April 12, 2021, which Governor Hogan signed on May 18. The introduction of mobile betting applications in Maryland will be the next stage.
Governor Larry Hogan signed HB 940, a sports betting bill, into law on May 23. The measure codifies the state’s regulation of operator licenses. Several sports betting licenses are expected to be given before the start of the NFL season, according to experts.
Maryland joins Arizona, New York, South Dakota, and Wyoming in becoming the fifth state to legalize sports betting in 2021, with the governor’s signing on the measure.
Maryland would easily exceed DC because of its wide licensing laws, and it might become a competitor to Virginia, which began betting in January 2021. This is due to the Maryland bill’s authorization of up to 60 mobile betting companies, which is nearly unprecedented in the sector.
Unlike the majority of other states, Maryland is offering licenses to gambling companies of all sizes. Maryland wants its sports betting to be diverse and accessible, so they’ve developed licensing tiers that range from $2 million to $50,000.
The largest NFL sportsbook operators are expected to be the first to get approval, most likely in late summer 2021, in time for the ensuing NFL season.
Others, like as numerous smaller sportsbooks and local sportsbook operators who do not have established retail partnerships in Maryland, will likely be legalized in phases.
