The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency released the December totals, which seem in line with the opening months’ results of states like New Jersey, New York, and Ohio.
Maryland Online Operators Has Record-Breaking December
Sports betting has been live since November 22, 2022, and online bettors responded by wagering $478,270,326 (including $70,939,973 in free promotional wagers) in December, with the Maryland sportsbooks revenue from online gambling netting the various operators $82,303,509 (17.2%) during their 1st full month of operation.
Maryland Retail Sports Betting December Results
Maryland’s nine retail sportsbook operators took in $18,851,329 (including $67,469 in free promotional wagers) for a 17% hold rate. The vast discrepancy between the online and retail results could stem partly from online operators offering “free” bets to entice potential customers into registering.
FanDuel Leads the Way
FanDuel took in nearly $100 million more wagers than its closest competitor DraftKings. A breakdown for all seven of Maryland’s online operators is below.
- FanDuel, $236.2 million, 49.4% market share
- DraftKings, $157.9 million, 33% market share
- BetMGM, $42.3 million, 8.9% market share
- Barstool, $16.4 million, 3.4% market share
- Caesars, $15.6 million, 3.3% market share
- PointsBet, $6.7 million, 1.4% market share
- BetRivers, $3.2 million, 0.7% market share
BetMGM Fined for November Violation
Sportsbetting giant BetMGM was recently fined roughly $145,000 for opening its online betting operation before the official start date.
BetMGM in Maryland took in 146 mobile sports bets a week before the November 23 official start date. Most of the wagers were refunded, but one customer was allowed to withdraw their winnings.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Board Commission Chairman Randy Marriner spoke with reporters regarding the violation and subsequent fine.
“This appears to be a careless mistake. It’s also the largest penalty that we’ve ever issued to anyone here at Maryland Lottery. It’s a serious mistake.”
New Sportsbooks Opening in 2023
Maryland has 60 available retail and online sports betting licenses, and the state is looking forward to three more operators taking bets in the Free State in 2023.
BetFred Sportsbook is a UK-based operator with an online presence in Arizona, Iowa, Ohio, Washington, Colorado, Louisiana, and Nevada. BetFred has the license and could open in February 2023.
Greenwood Gaming and Entertainment owns BetParx Sportsbook and operates in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Michigan. BetParx has already been approved by the MLGCB and could be live sometime in March 2023.
BetFanatics has been awarded a license to operate in Maryland and will open its online operations on January 20, 2023. BetFanatics is owned by Fanatics Inc., a famous retail sports clothing brand operating online, expanding its brand to the sports betting industry.
