Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency has released their November sports betting revenue report. This was the month that Maryland launched online betting and posted $219 million in wagers.
Maryland began online sports betting on November 23. There were seven sportsbook operators in Maryland. For the first nine days they were open, $186.1 Million in bets was placed by those online casinos. Maryland also offered $63.8 million of promotional play.
Commenting on the results, Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin outlined expectations that mobile sportsbooks would “continue to offer a lot of promotional wagers in the coming months,” as the market is relatively new and they crank up their efforts to attract customers.
“There was tremendous pent-up demand, and a lot of people are utilizing promotional offers from multiple operators simultaneously,” Martin continued, pointing to the realization by operators that “this level of promotional play is not sustainable” and will be curtailed by the regulator over time.
Barstool Sportsbook was used by BetMGM (BetRivers), BetMGM, BetRivers BetRivers Caesars Sportsbook BetKings FanDuel and PointsBet. But, because of state sports wagering regulations, operators are limited to unlimited promotional play during the first year of their operation. From then on, promotional play should not exceed 20% of a sportsbook’s taxable win registered in the prior year.
FanDuel, a top operator, topped the list with a mobile handle totaling $89.9 million. DraftKings was second with a mobile betting handle of $69.6 millions. They created some space in between the two large boys, with BetMGM placing third on mobile betting handles at $15.1million.
The Impact of Tax Revenue
The 13.9% holding rate of mobile operators was recorded for mobile betting. Based on 15% tax per win, after deductions for promotional play, this contributed just $4,262 in tax revenue. Retail operators generated 99.4% of the state’s tax money, accounting for $700,466 to a total of $704,728 in payments to the State of Maryland in November.
Compared to the tax payment in October, $781,642, tax payments in November registered a decrease of nearly 10%, despite October having no mobile sportsbooks and one retail location less, Long Shot’s in Frederick, which opened on November 18.
Tax money from sports wagering goes toward the state’s Future Fund and is then allocated as financial support for public education programs.
