The deadline is October 21st.
Baltimore, Md (KM) The State of Maryland is now accepting applications for mobile and facility sports wagering licenses. Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin says mobile sports wagering licenses would allow residents to place bets on sporting events using their mobile phones. “As long as you’re in the state of Maryland, you can place a wager. You don’t need to be physically at a location, ” he says.
The facilities sports wagering licenses would allow retailers and other businesses to have sports betting on their premises. “Anybody who has a brick and mortar location who chooses to want to proceed with bringing on the potential for sports wagering on property can certainly be open to filling out an application,” he says.
Interested individuals can fill out the application on line at swarc.org/applications. The deadline is October 21st.
Martin says the state has up to 60 mobile licenses available, and up to 30 brick and mortar licenses.
Before anyone is granted a license, Martin says they must meet certain criteria, and that includes having some deep pockets. “It is a business that’s subject to very big swings, and you have to be able to make sure you have the financial integrity to weather those valleys that may happen every once in a while if the players tend to win big,” he says.
There are also other requirements applicants must meet in order to get a license. . “Make sure they’re stable. That they have to have the wherewithal to do it both financially, and have the personal integrity and background check that’s pristine, and then we’ll proceed forward on that,” says Martin.
After the October 21st deadline, Martin says the applications will be vetted. He says some individuals and companies which have experience in sports betting in other states could get some sort of preference when applying for these licenses in Maryland. “We have a provision in the law that allows us to use alternative licensing which means if any of these applicants come to us and have experience in other jurisdictions, or they’re experienced with Maryland Lottery and Gaming, that will get them a little further along in the process,:” says Martin.
That would include companies which operate sports betting facilities in other states, and want to expand into Maryland.
Martin says the first licensees could be announced later this calendar year. “We’re excited about it. It’s been a long time coming. Marylanders have been looking forward–particularly the mobile side–for a while now, and we’re as anxious as they are to get it up and running,” he says.
By Kevin McManus