Update from Maryland SWARC Meeting
Relevant topics from yesterdays meeting included the Maryland Educational Summit, the Disparity Study, and the Sports Wagering Assistance Fund (SWAF)
Maryland Educational Summit: Sports Wagering-Small Business Participation in the Spotlight
Panel 1-“The Costs Of Running a Sports Betting Operation”
Panel 2-“A Regulatory/Legal/Licensing Overview of Maryland Sports Betting”. (Jeff Ifrah will be speaking on this panel.)
Below is the link to register for the summit, along with a more detailed description of the panels and the list of the speakers for the summit.
The event will not be live-streamed but it is being recorded and the hope is that the recording will be made available for viewing, shortly after the summit.
Disparity Study
There was no update given on the disparity study. A commissioner asked for an update towards the end of the meeting. David Stamper, from the Maryland Attorney General’s Office, who is the person who gave the disparity study update at the last SWARC meeting, said he would send an email to the SWARC members as to why there isn’t an update. He didn’t elaborate any further on the topic.
Sports Wagering Assistance Fund (SWAF)
An update was given on the SWAF. This fund is to assist small, minority-owned and women-owned businesses entering the sports wagering market by providing grants to help these business enter the market. While iDEA members won’t benefit directly, these grants will be available to potential partners.
There are four categories that grants could be awarded for. There are caps/limits on the amount of a grant that could be awarded. They are:
- Application Assistance
- Reimbursement for licensing fees and background checks
- Operating Support Costs, such as IT support and web design
- Training Assistance