The Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission (SWARC) voted September 2 to approve a policy amendment which requires operators awarded a mobile license to submit a diversity plan. However, failure to comply does not mean relinquishing the license that has already been awarded, according to Maryland Matters.
From the time they are approved, licensees have 30 days to submit the plan, which needs timelines and benchmarks to achieve diversity objectives. The licensee must make a good faith effort to meet those objectives, report statistics to the lottery and state gaming commission and make the plan open for public scrutiny.
“SWARC will consider any type of diverse group where an applicant can demonstrate that an individual has been disadvantaged and, therefore, inclusion of the individual as a participant in the diversity plan would be beneficial,” according to the addendum.
Officials were able to start taking applications after a legislative panel approved proposed regulations governing the application process. That approval came hours after gaming officials amended the proposed rules to require that each applicant for the competitively awarded license submit a diversity plan.
The diversity plan requirement may be only a first step in what is expected to be a greater effort to ensure racial and gender equity in licensing.
A commission member asked the question that many were thinking: what would happen if a diversity plan were deficient?
“There’s no opportunity of cancelation of the license. The license has been awarded,” said Assistant Attorney General David Stamper.
James Butler, managing director of organizational compliance with the state’s lottery and gaming control agency, said they would work to ensure applications meet diversity standards.
Despite the cart-before-the-horse approach, Delegate Darryl Barnes, who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland, is pleased with SWARC’s effort to ensure equity and inclusion as part of the process.
Still, Barnes said the approval process could be improved if the application and diversity plan were done together.
“It’s something that we can work towards,” he said.
Another goal is to create an environment where entrepreneurs from Maryland have a fair chance to compete against big operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings.
Meanwhile, the state has published proposed regulations for awarding competitive licenses for additional gaming locations and mobile sports wagering licenses. A section on economic impact notes the impact would benefit small businesses, especially those that are certified in the state’s minority business enterprise program.
“Participation for contractors and vendors that provide support to the sportsbook licensee and operator could also be meaningful,” according to the proposal. “Once these small businesses become either licensed, certified, or registered with the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Commission, it provides them with the opportunity to offer their goods and services to other sport wagering facility licensees and operators and mobile sports wagering licensees.”
When the state passed sports wagering, it did so with the goal of promoting diversity in the industry, Senate President Bill Ferguson and House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones said in a statement. “The regulations require sports wagering licensee applicants to seek out minority investors, to use the State’s nationally recognized minority business enterprise program in contracting and submit a substantive diversity plan will help achieve that goal. We are confident that these measures will ensure meaningful minority participation in this new industry.”
The commission held a public hearing on the regulations September 9 in Baltimore.
According to the Daily Record, state gaming officials on September 6 started accepting licenses for mobile sports betting in Maryland. As many as 60 licenses are available. Another 30 licenses are good to go for physical locations.
“This is fantastic news,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin. “We know sports fans are eager to have mobile wagering, and we also know that it will substantially increase the contributions to education funding, so we’re eager, too. We’ve been doing everything we can to have it launch before the end of the year, and now we have a good chance to make that happen.”
Gaming experts and officials say the mobile licenses will be lucrative in the fledgling industry.
“Maryland Lottery and Gaming has been hard at work on background investigations,” Martin said. “A number of businesses that are planning to apply have already submitted information to get their investigations started, and our licensing staff will continue guiding them through the qualification procedures. We’re focused on expediting our part of the process so mobile betting can start as soon as possible.”
A study to determine if other measures are needed has yet to be completed.
The long-awaited announcement comes 10 months after the state awarded its first five licenses. All went to five of the state’s six casinos for physical betting parlors.
To date, the state awarded roughly a dozen licenses to physical locations. State law designated some licenses to go to businesses already licensed by the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. That list included all six casinos; Laurel and Pimlico racetracks; several off-track betting locations, including at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium; and two large bingo parlors in Anne Arundel and Calvert counties.
Of the state’s six casinos, only the Rocky Gap facility in western Maryland has opted not to apply.
Applicants will have until October 21 to apply for either a mobile or retail sports wagering license. Those applicants have an additional 30 days to supply materials required for background checks.
Gaming officials said they could need up to 45 days to review each application. State lottery officials will have to recommend qualified applicants to SWARC for final approval.
The timeline means the state did not have mobile sports betting for the opening of the NFL season. Governor Larry Hogan, a second-term Republican, has repeatedly chided the state review commission for not speeding up the process in order to take mobile bets by September. 8.
“After having to overcome numerous bureaucratic hurdles from the legislature’s commission, we’re finally seeing some progress on mobile betting,” said Hogan in a social media post. “I am going to keep holding everyone’s feet to the fire until this is up and running. Marylanders have waited long enough.”
