Maryland casinos kicked off retail sports betting in December 2021 with nearly $16.5 million in total wagers after a mid-month launch.
The MD retail sportsbooks kept 19.2% of those wagers (“hold“), or about $3.2 million. Maryland bettors, meanwhile, maintained the remaining $13.4 million as players’ win.
On Monday Maryland Lottery and Gaming released the first batch of sports betting revenue numbers for the state. And there was a lot of reason for optimism.
With the December 2021 sports betting, Maryland will collect nearly $470,000 in taxes. It’ll go to the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund, which supports public education.
The MD sports betting market officially kicked off on Dec. 9 when Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan placed the first wager at MGM National Harbor. The Oxon Hill casino, which is located just outside of Washington, DC, offers the BetMGM Sportsbook experience at the BetMGM Sports Book & Lounge.
The following day, Dec. 10, Horseshoe Casino Baltimore then took its first wager. The Baltimore casino partnered with Caesars Sportsbook. for its operations.
However, Live! Casino & Hotel (teamed with FanDuel Sportsbook), which also launched on Dec. 10, took the top spot with more than $7.1 million in total wagers. The Hanover-based casino was also one of the top properties for Maryland casino revenue for December 2021.
Here’s the full breakdown of December 2021 sports betting in MD:
| Handle | Prized Paid | Hold % | Promotion Play | Other Deductions | Taxable Win | Taxes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live! Casino & Hotel | $7,102,945 | $5,729,816 | 19.3% | $0 | $17,760 | $1,355,369 | $203,305 |
| MGM National Harbor | $5,988,942 | $4,998,463 | 16.5% | $0 | $15,277 | $975,203 | $146,280 |
| Horseshoe Casino Baltimore | $2,587,324 | $2,045,838 | 20.9% | $0 | $6,130 | $535,356 | $80,303 |
| Ocean Downs | $554,218 | $384,906 | 30.5% | $0 | $1,376 | $167,936 | $25,190 |
| Hollywood Casino Perryville | $319,001 | $223,407 | 30.0% | $0 | $798 | $94,796 | $14,219 |
| TOTALS | $16,552,430 | $13,382,430 | 19.2% | $0 | $41,341 | $3,128,660 | $469,297 |
Those casinos’ sportsbooks were followed by Ocean Downs (TwinSpires) on Dec. 17 and Hollywood Casino Perryville (Barstool Sportsbook) on Dec. 23. Ocean Downs, the only other MD casino, has no immediate plans to offer sports wagering.
So, how does Maryland compare to other states with retail sports betting? New York had a massive launch over the weekend for online betting. But before then, the state offered only retail betting as Maryland does. Yet, despite New Yorkers’ obvious appetite for sports betting, Maryland needed just three weeks to tally the amount of wagering dollars that NY books took four months to collect.
But based on Maryland’s early success, much more money should be headed to the state’s coffers in 2022.