Maryland Sportsbooks Generated $186m Around Thanksgiving

Maryland sports betting report has been published, and there is some interesting financial news. A big surprise was the amount of more than $180 million in the mobile handle. That money was spent during the Thanksgiving period.  

The expected numbers:  

If we consider how online sports gambling is performed, these numbers are to be expected. When the new jurisdiction accepts online sports gambling, this is almost always followed by bonuses and promotions, decreasing taxable revenue and tax collections. This surely has left the tax collectors disappointed.   

The tax break will be regulated in the future since the Maryland sports betting apps are designed to regulate them in time.  

The handle for mobile sports betting’s opening in Maryland was more than $186 million. Seven mobile operators were included in that launch.  

If we include the retail, the total handle of Maryland casinos was over $219 million – $186 via mobile phones and a little lesser than $64 million in promotional wagers.  

On November 23th, sports betting was included in Maryland’s offer. The controlled demonstration of new projects was held on November 21st.   

Retail sports betting was included in the state’s offer in December 2021, and since then, it has drawn a lot of money to the state’s casinos.  

John Martin, Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director, said: “We expect mobile sportsbook operators to continue to offer a lot of promotional wagers in the coming months as they venture into a new market and work to attract customers.”   

The causes of the decrease:  

Maryland regulations don’t say anything about the amount of sportsbook promotional play during the first fiscal year. But when the second one starts, the regulations are pretty strict: the promotional play amount needs to be lesser than 20% of the previous year’s taxable win.   

When we take a look at retail sports betting, we’ll notice that the November handle was around $33 million, which is 16.8% lesser than the handle from October. This can be happening because some of the bets shifted from retail to mobile.   

November’s taxable wins were -$33.6 million since a lot of money has been spent on mobile promotions. Retail is the only thing that leads to profit from tax collections.  

But it is not a really bad year overall for the Maryland gambling market – if there weren’t promotional plays, the state would gain revenue of almost $26 million. The combined hold was about 14%, so the promotional play that cost $63.8 million was a major cause of the decrease in revenue.  

Martin commented on this: “Deducting promotional play obviously has an impact on the bottom line, and that’s why we have a cap that takes effect after each operator’s first full fiscal year. It protects the state’s interests and ensures that sports wagering will generate revenue for education, as intended. By awarding large amounts of promotional play in their first fiscal year, the sportsbooks’ promo play amounts will be limited in their second year.”