BERLIN — Although disappointed with the progress of approving licenses for five sports wagering licenses, including the Ocean Downs Casino, state lottery officials on Thursday did take another step in the process.
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission (MLGCC) on Thursday approved the sports wagering operator partners for five casinos, including Ocean Downs Casino in Berlin, all of which are still awaiting license awards from the Sports Wagering Application Review Committee (SWARC). Last month, the Ocean Downs Casino was one of five locations across the state that were qualified to conduct sports wagering.
The applications for the five qualified locations were forwarded to the SWARC for final approval, which was expected to come quickly. However, no action has yet been taken on the applications from the five locations including the Ocean Downs Casino.
Meanwhile, the MLGCC continues to move the process forward with other necessary steps taken. Each of the five casinos qualified for sports wagering will partner with an independent third-party to run the operations. On Thursday, the MLGCC approved the licenses for the third-party operators.
For Ocean Downs Casino, the sports wagering partner approved on Thursday is TwinSpires. MLGCC officials expressed disappointment in the slow approval process for the applications of the five casinos qualified for sports wagering last month, and it now appears there won’t be an official sports bet placed in Maryland until next year.
“We’re obviously disappointed by the lack of progress in yesterday’s SWARC meeting, but we’re pleased that we’ve moved forward in other areas,” said Maryland Lottery and Gaming Director John Martin. “The delay is likely to push sports wagering back until after the New Year. At this point, we are hoping to make the NFL playoffs in January and the Super Bowl in February.”
The SWARC met on Wednesday, but no decisions were made on the five applications, including Ocean Downs Casino. Martin said the MLGCC continues to work on other aspects of the approval process separate from SWARC, which is scheduled to meet again on November 18.
“We are making progress on as much of this as we can now, but we’ll still need time to work through a number of procedures with each facility, even after the license is awards,” Martin said. “It could take up to 30-45 days. If the SWARC awards the licenses on November 18 and all goes well, that would mean a launch date somewhere around the first of the year.”
