MD Online Sportsbooks Launch Sees Movement Following Gov. Hogan’s Push

Maryland Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. recently called out the Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) for taking too long to launch online sportsbooks.
SWARC announced the rules for sports betting are 95% complete and will be put to public review soon.
SWARC set another meeting for June 29 to hopefully push the online market forward.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. – There has finally been some development in the Maryland online sports betting market following Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr.’s public statements on the slow process.

The Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) has responded to the governor’s criticisms and announced the sports betting rules advancements.

The rules for sports betting are reportedly 95% complete and will be ironed out in a forthcoming June 29 meeting. A target for the 2022 NFL season is still in the works with Super Bowl 57 being the latest Gov. Hogan wants betting to be live.

Maryland Online Sports Betting: A Long Process

Residents voted in favor of mobile and retail sportsbooks in Maryland during the 2020 November elections. Since then, retail operators have launched but Maryland online sportsbooks do not have a set launch date.

The lack of advancement has been a public thorn in Gov. Hogan’s side. Hogan issued an official letter to SWARC this week in response.

“I write to you today to urge the Sports Wagering Application Review Commission to act immediately so that mobile sports wagering can begin in the State of Maryland before the start of the National Football League (NFL) regular season on September 8, 2022,” wrote Hogan in a letter to SWARC. “To make that target date achievable, it is imperative that you immediately accelerate and intensify your efforts.”

SWARC has announced during a meeting on Thursday, likely in response to the Governor’s letter, that the rules are 95% set for online sportsbooks and will soon be available for public comment.

The vote for these rules will likely occur during the June 29 special session with applications being accepted later in the summer.

Since the passing of sports betting in 2020, this is the most advancement that has occurred surrounding the online market.

SWARC Response To Governor

Following the Thursday meeting, SWARC Chairmen Thomas Brandt publicly defended the pace SWARC was going in response to the Governor’s letter.

“SWARC and its support team have been operating as diligently as it can under the Maryland sports wagering law,” said Brandt. “SWARC has been tasked with ensuring minority owned businesses and women owned businesses to have an equal opportunity to participate and have equity in Maryland’s sports betting market. The commission’s task to ensure this goal must be undertaken within the confine’s of the bill.”

Even following his comments, Brandt would not give even a target date for when sports betting will go live. Maryland bettors will have to wait until the June 29 meeting to see how close regulated books are to going live.

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Giovanni Shorter

Coming from a background in narrative-based writing, Giovanni strives to write stories that will keep the reader engaged. Although he does pride himself in being accurate, how the story is told is also very important to him. When he’s not keeping readers up to date on sports betting laws and legislation, you can find him writing and recording music, playing videogames, or engaged in heated sports debates with his friends.