Maryland’s online sports betting market is off to a great start after a two-plus year wait.
Marylanders made a bet $186.08 million online from November 23 to November 30 (plus an eight-hour soft launch on November 21) in their first nine days of legal online sports betting, according to figures released Monday by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission. That included $63 million in free bets provided by Maryland sportsbooks online.
Maryland legalized sports betting in the 2020 election, although it waited more than two years for an online market. That’s because of legal and bureaucratic hurdles that have angered many, including Gov. Larry Hogan.
Maryland is the 10th most populous state with a legal and live online sports betting market. For comparison, New York, the most populous state live with online sports betting, is reported $603 million in his first nine days, a figure that also included promotional play.
FanDuel, DraftKings lead the MD pack
FanDuel took the lead in Maryland early on, with transactions on its mobile app accounting for nearly half of Marylanders’ pledges to date. Complete treatment breakdown by app:
- FanDuel: $89.9 million (48%)
- Kings Draft: $69.6 million (37%)
- BetMGM: $15.07 million (8%)
- Barstol: $5.5 million (3%)
- Caesars: $3.46 million (2%)
- PointsBet: $1.6 million (0.86%)
- BetRivers: $631,175 (0.34%)
Maryland sports betting is on par with the rest of the country
That break is relatively consistent with the rest of the country, according to a study from Vixio Gambling Compliance which shows that FanDuel has almost 40% of the US market.
Sportsbooks, meanwhile, reported sales of $32.9 million in handling, slightly down from October, but still the second largest in a single month since its launch in December 2021.
Promos eat taxes in Maryland
Of the seven betting apps, BetRivers was the only one that paid fees, generating $4,261 to state education.
The rest took more away $38.2 million in free promotion play and after payouts to winning players.
Like many other states, Maryland allows sportsbooks to extract revenue from advertising bets, a tactic also pushed by the legal industry as a way to combat the market at sea
Governor: Maryland sports betting promo pace ‘not sustainable’
Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin he said in a press release:
“We expect mobile sportsbook operators to continue to offer a lot of advertising promises in the coming months as they enter new markets and work to attract customers. There was a huge increase in demand, and many people are using promotional offers from multiple operators at the same time.
“But as many operators have acknowledged, this level of promotional play is not sustainable, and based on our rules, it will be reduced over time.”
Some states like Virginia and Colorado changed their laws so that they no longer allowed this to happen. Other states like New York he banned the practice from the start.
The state taxes sports betting income at a 15% level. A fiscal note attached to Maryland’s sports betting law predicts that it will raise that state in between $17 million and $19 million year in taxes. Its sales market, which went live in December 2021, has more than created $6 million in 11 months.
