SPORTS BETTING
US – Maryland opts for ‘inclusive’ sports betting market
By Phil - 13 April 2021
Maryland is going all in with its sports betting regs with existing casinos allowed to apply for retail and mobile sports betting along with three professional sports venues (Oriole Park, FedEx Field, and M&T Bank Stadium), racetracks, bingo halls, State Fairgrounds and sports bars under Class A licenses.
There will be 10 of these licences each costing $2m. The bill, which has been finalised by the Senate and the House, also allows for 30 Class B licenses for retail betting only.
Tax will be set at 15 per cent for mobile and online betting and 13 per cent for land-based sports books. Following the sign off from both the House and Senate, which is expected early next week, the bill will then go before Governor Larry Hogan with the aim of it becoming law at the start of June 1 with a launch in the Autumn.
Senator Craig J. Zucker said: “We’re in a good place. We worked together [with the House], we’ll have a good sports betting bill that will keep us competitive with other states while still have meaningful small-, minority- and women-owned participation.”
Senator Cory V. McCray added: “Recognising that there are a lot of minority participants would like to get into this industry and try to make sure that it’s inclusive of everyone was everybody’s goal.”
