With sports betting having gone live in Maryland last week, operators are now flocking to the Old Line State. FanDuel Group & The Cordish Companies have brought their product to Live! Casino & Hotel, located in the Washington-Baltimore corridor, while, in Baltimore proper, Caesars Sportsbook has launched at the Horseshoe Casino.
Both opening ceremonies were not without a degree of pageant and ceremony. At the Horseshoe, Governor Larry Hogan, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, former Ravens stars Torrey Smith and Adalius Thomas, as well as the great and inimitable Tyrone ‘Muggsy’ Bogues were all in attendance, each placing some of the very first legal wagers in the state.
The Governor managed to make it to Live! Casino for the opening there too, where he was joined with NFL hall-of-famer Ed Reed.
At this Live! Casino event, Governor Hogan had this to say: “Today marks the culmination of more than a year of effort to get sports betting up and running here in the State of Maryland.
“In addition to allowing Marylanders to bet on football, basketball, and more, sports betting will also help to keep more dollars in-state and will provide another critical revenue source for public education without raising taxes on families and small businesses.”
Indeed, the decision for Maryland to permit sports was to offset some of the money it was, in theory, hemorrhaging by not allowing it. Maryland is a short drive from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia, all of whom have betting and rake in cash as a result.
