Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan fed up with sports gambling delays in the state

Gov. Hogan fed up with sports gambling delays in Maryland

As the NFL enters Week 7 on FOX Thursday night, Marylanders still can't bet on games in their state, and Governor Larry Hogan says he's had enough of the delays in the un-launched sports gambling industry.

MARYLAND (FOX 5 DC) - As the NFL enters Week 7 on FOX Thursday night, Marylanders still can't bet on games in their state, and Governor Larry Hogan says he's had enough of the delays in the un-launched sports gambling industry.

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Voters passed a sports gambling law last year, the general assembly passed the law and Gov. Hogan signed the law back in May. However, there is still no sports gambling in Maryland.

Live Casino in Anne Arundel County, MGM National Harbor and Horseshoe Casino in Baltimore have all already qualified for sports waging licenses and this morning, the state lottery added two more: Hollywood Casino and Ocean Downs Casino.

The hold-up can be traced to the Sports Wagering Application Review Commission which was set up to review applications for sports gambling licenses. The commission still hasn't approved any of them.

The state lottery director says he understands people's frustrations.

"Look, they overwhelmingly in November of 2020 by a 2-to-1 margin, as you know, voted for sports wagering and I don’t think that any of them who voted in November of 2020 anticipated that it’d be the end of ’21, or ‘22, or ’23 before things got in place," Director of the Maryland Lottery John A. Martin said.

Right now, 33 states have legal sports gambling. It's estimated that sports wagering could generate up to $20 million a year in tax revenue in Maryland.

Some Maryland residents FOX 5 spoke to say the delay is leaving money on the table for places like neighboring D.C. and Virginia to pick up.

"I think there are a lot of active gamblers in the area and I think this would be an asset," one resident said.

"It seems like whatever finances can help the state, that would be the best thing to do," another resident remarked.

Gov. Hogan fired off a statement Thursday for the commission to get moving, saying that, "no one's been fighting harder for sports betting" than him.

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With a third of the NFL season already over, Gov. Hogan reminded officials that March Madness is only four months away and there's still no concrete date on when sports betting in Maryland will begin.