Maryland sets November deadline for operator license application review

Maryland’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) will meet on November 21 to consider recommended sports betting license applications from potentially as many as 21 operators.

The deadline for operators to submit their applications to SWARC passes on Friday.

Names of the 21 applicants have not been confirmed, however it is understood that these prospective license applicants include 10 sports wagering operator applicants as well as 10 connected sports apps and one Class B (retail) applicant.

However, the makeup of that group depends on the deliberations of the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission, which will meet on October 27 to ascertain the qualifications of each prospective applicant looking to operate in the state.

A SWARC meeting was initially scheduled for November 16 but was pushed back to allow extra time for the deliberation process.

After the SWARC approves applications on November 21, applicants are then passed back to the Maryland Lottery & Gaming Commission for a final approval process, which includes the demonstration of licensee operations and procedures, before licenses can be issued.

Once licenses are issued, operators can begin taking bets, something which opens up the possibility of sports betting taking place in Maryland by as early as December.

Under the process, SWARC is authorized to conduct a competitive process to award up to 60 mobile licenses and up to 30 Class B facility licenses.

In comments reported by the Southern Maryland Chronicle, SWARC chairman Tom Brandt declared the Lottery & Gaming Control Commission’s October 21 meeting as a “milestone” date for the state.

Alluding to the forthcoming role of the SWARC in the process, he added: “All eyes will be upon us for getting (online) sports wagering going in the state of Maryland. And then we become the gating step in the process.”

It is understood materials from many applicants have arrived at SWARC for consideration in advance of the deadline but which are still subject to review.

Maryland has famously taken a substantive amount of time to license and regulate its forthcoming sports betting market, despite enabling legislation to be signed into law by Governor Larry Hogan in 2021.

Earlier this year, Hogan took aim at the SWARC and other stakeholders in the state for not moving fast enough on getting sports betting up and running in the state, calls which have since found their mark in the expedited application process.