Chris Boline
When it comes to the success of Maryland sports betting for online formats, things have been a total hit. With things officially launching in November, the returns have been great, with people of course checking out the different football odds to place their wagers. However, it looks like one company in particular got off to a head start, and now they’re paying for it. That’s right, the news has come in of a sportsbook hit with a massive fine for launching Maryland online betting early last month.
It was just announced that the BetMGM sportsbook indeed was fined, as they received and approved a high number of online bets ahead of the official launch. That’s a big no-no and you can understand why the gaming commission was so upset. BetMGM approved nearly 150 online sports bets on Nov. 16 over a three-hour period. This came a week before the launch was supposed to go down.
Because of this, BetMGM was fined a head-turning $146,000. It easy to see why such a massive fine came in, as competitors of BetMGM were furious to see this happen. People were fully waiting for the official date to arrive to start taking in the online bets. However, BetMGM thought they could get sneaky and bend the rules in this case, which the gaming commission wasn’t going to allow.
On Nov. 23. Maryland opened up online sports betting as previously people were only able to make their bets in person. Since that date, though, several sportsbooks have opened things up and people have been flying to make bets. However, BetMGM has received plenty of negative press in the past couple of weeks and a lot of people aren’t happy with their Nov. 16 decision. This surely needs to be a big lesson for them.
Online betting platform BetMGM hit with a fine by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission today after being found in violation of the state's regulations on wagering. the website mistakenly accepted 146 wagers on November 16, an entire week before the official launch
— David Collins (@dcollinsWBAL) December 16, 2022
Online sports betting in Maryland has been a total hit
Despite this negative update with BetMGM, online sports betting in Maryland has been a total hit in the past couple of weeks. This isn’t a surprise to anyone, as people have been calling for online betting options for a while now. With the online wagers, it allows people to make their bets from the comfort of their own home, rather than having to get in their car to drive to one of the authorized spots.
On top of that, it’s amazing for Maryland that we’re in the heart of the football season. People have surely been checking the NFL betting odds for teams in the part of the USA. In Maryland, people are surely going to have high interest in the Washington Commanders, and the excitement for this team has been high of late because they’re playing so well over the last month. The defense and offense has looked sharp.
With the Commanders, they’re still trying to sneak into the playoffs, but several things must happen for that to go down. If Washington doesn’t end up grabbing an NFC Wild Card spot, then people are of course going to be eyeing the Super Bowl betting odds. However, as good as a story it would be for Washington to win it all, they’ve got several teams ahead of them when it comes to the odds.
The Bills, Eagles, Chiefs, Cowboys and others are expected to be in the hunt at the end. With the Eagles, they’ve looked like the best team in the NFL this season, with Jalen Hurts playing at an MVP level. However, don’t forget for a second that Washington beat Philly early on in the season – that’s something that fans are still thinkin about. If Washington could pull off that kind of an upset early on in the campaign, who’s to say they can’t do it again this winter?
Marylanders bet $186 million in the state's first 9 days of online sports betting (incl. $63 million in free bets), according to the Maryland Lottery.
Breakdown by app:
FanDuel – 48%
DraftKings – 37%
BetMGM – 8%
Barstool – 3%
Caesars – 2%— Sam McQuillan (@sam_mcquill) December 12, 2022
There are seven mobile sports betting apps in Maryland right now
What’s great for everyone in the state is that there are seven mobile sports betting apps in Maryland right now and that number is expected to grow in the coming months. For starters, though, seven is a fantastic number and people have been taking advantage of not only great updated odds, but the different sportsbooks promotions and free bets that have been presented to them since the launch.
With this, Maryland is recording a high amount of new sign-ups, which of course is leading to more and more bets being posted. In turn, this is going to eventually lead to increased revenue for the state, which is going to be great to see of all of the officials and lawmakers who were pushing for sports betting.
The online betting hasn’t even been live for a month and the stats that are being recorded have countless people talking. People love betting on sports from home and the numbers show that. Look for Maryland to add more sportsbooks down the line. With this, even more options will be made available for people in the state. Everything feels like it has been going through without a hitch, and outside of the BetMGM hiccup, people are following the rules and having fun in the process.
