Maryland sports betting could be impacted as House Ways and Means Committee member, Delegate Jason Buckel, suggested that he would file legislation to reopen an application period for new retail sportsbook licensees in next year’s legislative session.
Are More Sportsbooks Needed?
Although Delegate Jason Buckel would like to see more retail sportsbooks crop up throughout the Old Line State, regulators suggest a more cautious approach. As the law is currently written, Maryland can have up to 60 online sportsbooks and a maximum of 47 retail locations.
Of those 47 retail locations, 17 were specifically designated in the legislation including the state’s six casinos, three professional sports stadiums, the state’s two horse tracks; Pimlico and Laurel, the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, as well as several existing off-track betting sites and bingo halls.
As it stands now, there are only a dozen retail shops and the same number of online sports betting options. And while the “more is better” mentality may sound good, it’s not necessarily the best long-term approach considering it could adversely impact those brick-and-mortar locations that are designed exclusively for gambling. We should also note dozens of licenses have gone unclaimed.
Balancing Expansion and Sustainability
Maryland Lottery Director John Martin believes the market could ultimately consolidate rather than expand. “If you do the quick math, that’s 107 sportsbooks. That’s a lot. The reality is we’re nowhere near that now. “That’s just the reality of it. The numbers here are just not sustainable.”
The small businesses that might include a sports betting kiosk in their stores would need outside concerns to help them run it and what might be a small ancillary income stream for many could take a large bite out of the traffic at the half-a-dozen casinos that rely on sports betting to bring in patrons that often stop at a blackjack table or slot machine during their visit.
Nevertheless, Buckel contends there is a need for more. “There’s a lot of dead spots, I guess I would say,” said Buckel (R-Allegany), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. “There’s very few on the Eastern Shore. For Montgomery County with 1.1 million people, there’s one in all of Montgomery County. There’s dead spots kind of all over the state.”
Market Shrinkage a Possibility
Adding retail locations in an industry where over 90% of the sports bets are placed online seems a bit odd, particularly when the Maryland mobile market is still in its infancy, having launched only 10 months ago.
Director Martin said, “There is currently no provision in law to offer another enrollment period.”
James Butler, assistant deputy director of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency, also brought up the possibility of consolidation rather than expansion in the market. “I think SWARC (Sports Wagering Application Review Commission) is trying to see what the field is going to be like, if there is going to be some mergers and acquisitions of the mobiles if some of the retails are still going to be up and running,”
WynnBET will likely pull out of the Maryland market as it is shuttering many of its online platforms with the exception of Massachusetts and Nevada where the company has land-based casinos and retail sportsbooks housed within them.
*Bookmakers Review will continue to monitor this story and update our readers as events unfold.
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