Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to Vote on Draft Regulations Thursday

• Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to Vote on Regulations Thursday 
• Draft Regulations Provide Details on How the Sports Betting Market will Work
• Maryland Sports Betting Launch Date Still Undecided

Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission to Vote on Regulations Thursday

July 15 is when the state of Maryland will work to tentatively approve the sports betting regulations that were recently released, a step that will hasten the launch of legal sports gambling in the Old Line State.

The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission is scheduled to vote on these draft regulations via teleconference starting at 10 a.m. ET on Thursday with a 30-day public comment period scheduled to begin directly afterward.

For anyone interested in listening in, audio from the proceedings will be live-streamed on the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency website, and access is free to the public.

Both the Maryland Senate and House passed mobile sports betting bill on April 12, 2021, and just over a month later on May 18 Governor Larry Hogan signed it into law, the bill authorizing up to 60 mobile betting operators, a number far larger than most others in the industry.

Draft Rules Provide Details On How the Sports Betting Market will Work

The draft regulations in question map out how the Maryland sports betting market will work, including outlining the rules for registration of mobile and online sports gamblers.

Among other guidelines, the rules give bettors the option of registering in-person at a brick-and-mortar betting facility or online via a mobile app or website, both of which must be approved by the State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency.

Also stated in the draft regulations is that licensees will be limited to just one branded website to accept and payout bets, meaning operators will be forced to choose between brands like DraftKings and FanDuel when deciding with which brand they want to do exclusive business.

Until the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission approves these regulations, the application for the licensing process cannot begin.

Maryland Sports Betting Launch Date Still Undecided

No firm launch date for Maryland sports betting has been announced, however, plenty of hints have been made towards a Fall 2021 deadline.

For example, at the Maryland Lottery and Gaming website, it says that they expect to have some of the “operations up and running during the fall of 2021,” a possible indicator that the plan is to get this done in time for the upcoming NFL season which starts in early September.

Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Montgomery), chairwoman of the House Ways & Means Committee, made that particular objective apparent earlier in the process when she told the press:

I think the goal is to go live by kickoff of the NFL [season] in the first week in September.

Deadlines aside, what is clear is that legal sports betting in Maryland is about to happen and Free State punters will soon get a chance to place bets on their favorite teams.