UPDATE: About an hour after publication, SWARC sent out an official notice opening its online sports betting application process. Read the full details here.

Maryland online sports betting’s licensing process took a step forward last week, as the Maryland Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review (AELR) approved emergency sports betting application regulations for the state.

The AELR approved the proposed Sports Wagering Application Review Commission’s (SWARC) emergency regulations late Friday, Sept. 2, paving way for SWARC to soon begin accepting online sports betting license applications.

If all goes well, Maryland online sports betting could potentially launch in early 2023 or by February’s Super Bowl.

Moving forward with Maryland online sports betting licensing

It was a necessary step forward for the long awaited online sports betting launch. Recently, SWARC Chairman Thomas Brandt sent a letter to the AELR urging the committee to approve the regulations as soon as possible so Maryland would not be in danger of missing out on online sports betting for the entirety of the upcoming NFL season.

“Thus, unless we move quickly, Marylanders will miss access to mobile wagering on the 2022 football season, and the state will miss out on the related revenue,” Brandt wrote in his letter to the AELR.

Voting for the regulations opened on Friday, Sept. 2, and a majority of the 19 member AELR committee voted in favor for the emergency rules. A public hearing on the approved regulations will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 9.

SWARC’s proposed regulations were published last in the Maryland Register, marking the beginning of a 30-day public comment which will conclude on Sept. 26.

SWARC approves additional diversity requirements

SWARC held its own meeting on Friday, Sept. 2, and approved new “diversity plan requirements” for online sports betting operators awarded a license in the state. Operators must submit a “diversity plan” to SWARC within 30 calendar days of receiving a license that shows the company is making an effort to ensure it promotes equality of opportunity.

Each operator must agree to make a “good faith effort” to meet a series of diversity objectives outlined in SWARC’s diversity plan. These include strategies for obtaining a diverse group of owners, investors, and employees, including executive positions, and contractors, for each operator.

However, a member of SWARC asked if licenses could be withheld or withdrawn if the diversity plan requirements were not fulfilled by an operator. Assistant Attorney General David Stamper said a license could not be be cancelled after it was awarded. The diversity plan is not required to be submitted to SWARC until an operator is awarded a sports betting license.

The additional requirements come a week after SWARC revealed that the long-awaited sports betting industry disparity study found the commission cannot apply race- and/or gender-conscious criteria in its online sports betting licensing process. This recent action, and SWARC’s decision to instituted a Personal Net Worth (PNW) provision in its licensing process, supports the commission’s original task of ensuring gender and race-based fairness during the state’s sports betting licensing process.

The PNW provision requires every applicant for an online sports betting license or a Class B facility sports wagering license to demonstrate that at least 5% of its direct or indirect ownership is by individuals with a PNW no more than $1.847 million. The provision, Brandt said in his letter, meets the definition of “disadvantaged business enterprises” used in Maryland Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) programs.