Maryland SWARC Sports Wagering Application Review Commission Meeting Recap
August 17, 2022
Maryland’s Sports Wagering Application Review Commission held a meeting this morning, which can be viewed via You Tube. Note that the first hour is a closed session; fast forward to the 1:06 mark for the public portion of the meeting. John Pappas provided the following highlights from the meeting.
Highlights from the meeting include:
- Approval of the draft mobile sports wagering application – view here.
- Estimated timeline of next steps:
- Legislative approval of draft EMERGENCY regulations – before end of August
- AG review of disparity study – within 2-3 weeks
- Release of applications can only happen after the two items above are complete – best case, early September
- After release of the application there will be a 45-day window for applications to be submitted.
- 45-60 days of SWARC review of applicants, which will happen simultaneously with MD Lottery review. MD Lottery noted that approval of experienced mobile operators who are regulated in multiple states and have already been approved in MD for retail could likely happen quicker than other applicants.
- Testing and approval of Internal controls – (no timeline provided)
- No decision on a launch date or procedure for launch – (“gated start” date or launch “when ready”)
- Goal to have mobile operators live ahead of Super Bowl
- The regulations will be published in the Maryland Register on 8/26 and be open for public comment for 30 days. It’s important to note that the application process can begin before this comment period concludes since the rules have been approved on an EMERGENCY basis.