Online sports betting sites have already launched in Maryland, but operators still have work to do if they want to remain in the good graces of regulators.
Maryland’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) met Wednesday morning to consider diversity plans from 10 companies recently awarded legal sports betting licenses by the regulator.
Those plans are crucial for companies that want to offer online sports betting in Maryland and require extra effort that operators may not need in other states.
That is because Maryland has a unique sports-betting law that requires the SWARC to try to ensure diversity in awarding licenses. For starters, the state’s regulatory process requires license-seekers to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the SWARC that commits them to "good-faith efforts" to interview minority and women investors in future capital-raising efforts.
Applicants must also submit a diversity plan within 30 days of being awarded a license. The companies then agree to make further good-faith efforts to meet their diversity objectives in that plan and to report related metrics, which can be made available to the public.
Stick to the plan
SWARC Chairman Tom Brandt said during the meeting that all of the group's initial mobile sports betting licensees submitted their diversity plans within the 30-day window.
BetMGM, for example, approved two minority investors who purchased an ownership stake in a Maryland subsidiary of the bookmaker. BetMGM also partnered with the Tom Joyner Foundation, which supports historically black colleges and universities.
The SWARC approved the 10 plans before the commission on Wednesday and will now monitor their implementation. The commission signed off on diversity plans for companies connected to Barstool Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, and DraftKings, among others.
“It's been a long couple of years to get to this point,” Brandt said. “I think we've got some real substance in those plans. And now it'll be on us to monitor that the execution matches the plan.”
A brief but important meeting of Maryland's Sports Wagering Application Review Commission this morning. The SWARC approved diversity plans from 10 companies, which those licensees were required to submit within 30 days of receiving their wagering permit. pic.twitter.com/661UyR9t7K
— Geoff Zochodne (@GeoffZochodne) January 18, 2023
Maryland voters approved legal sports betting via ballot measure in November 2020, but event wagering didn’t begin in the Old Line State until December 2021, and even then it was only available in person at casinos. Mobile sports betting began in Maryland in November 2022, and nine retail and seven online sportsbooks were taking bets as of the end of December.
Brandt noted that there are still another nine applications for mobile sports wagering licenses that are working their way through the regulatory process, in addition to five applications for retail facilities. Those applications could pick up momentum later this month, as the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission meets on January 26.
Maryland’s process for sports-betting licenses requires the commission to find an applicant qualified for the permit. After that, the SWARC can choose to award a license to the applicant, which must then conduct a controlled demonstration and check other regulatory boxes before it is issued its permit and can start taking bets.
