- The Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland has opened a FanDuel retail location following the launch of sports betting in Maryland earlier in the day.
- Maryland Governor Larry Hogan placed the state’s first bet at BetMGM at MGM National Harbor–a futures wager on the Washington Football Team to play the Baltimore Ravens in the 2022 Super Bowl.
- Mobile betting in Maryland remains ‘TBA’.
Retail sports betting in Maryland is now up and running following the launch of the BetMGM sportsbook at the MGM National Harbor. It was the first of three sportsbooks opening in Maryland including the Caesars Sportsbook location at the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore. The third property to launch a retail sportsbook was The Cordish Companies owned Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland in Hanover. Their retail sportsbook is being run by FanDuel and is now open for business. The retail betting windows are open Monday through Friday 11:00 AM to 12 midnight Eastern and 9: 00 AM to 12 midnight Eastern on Saturday and Sunday. Bets can also be placed 24/7 at one of 31 self service kiosks located throughout the property. This is the first FanDuel branded sportsbook in Maryland and you can be sure that their mobile/online offering won’t be far behind. In fact, the press release announcing the opening of the FanDuel retail sportsbook indicates that they’ll partner with The Cordish Companies and Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland to offer online sports betting in Maryland ‘pending legal and regulatory approvals’.
On hand to place the ceremonial first bet was former Baltimore Ravens great and NFL Hall of Famer Ed Reed. Reed was as good as any free safety to ever play the game but his sports betting debut didn’t work out so well–he played a $20 moneyline wager on Dustin Poirer -130 or thereabouts to win at UFC 269. Unfortunately for Reed’s bankroll, Charles Olivera submitted Poirer at the 3:58 mark of Round 3. I can’t hate on Reed at all–he was a hell of a player and wore a t-shirt plugging his eponymously branded line of premium cigars:
You can check out ER Fine Cigars at the link below. A new cigar line is on the way but you can score some merch. Actually, you can’t score some merch yet–it looks like the WordPress theme still has the default stock photos in the online store. So watch this space. I was hoping to score a shirt like Ed is rocking in the photo above:
Governor Larry Hogan was also on hand giving essentially the same quote he gave at Caesars and BetMGM earlier in the day:
“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.”
Speaking on behalf of the property was Rob Norton, president of Cordish Global Gaming and Live! Casino, who is excited to offer his guests a first rate retail sportsbook:
“The combination of two powerhouse brands – Live! best known for our premier entertainment venues, and FanDuel for its leading Sportsbook – will offer an unmatched experience for sports betting enthusiasts in the State of Maryland. The launch of the FanDuel Sportsbook, in the heart of Sports & Social Maryland, has been highly anticipated and will provide our guests with the ultimate fan experience.”
Here’s the press release description of the FanDuel Sportsbook at Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland:
The FanDuel Sportsbook is located inside Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland’s fan-friendly sports lounge, Sports & Social Maryland. The 14,000 square foot sports lounge features a 100-foot-wide media screen as its centerpiece for some of the best sports watching in the region. Sports & Social Maryland also has two main bars, luxury viewing chairs, and VIP areas surrounded by the largest casino in the state of Maryland. The FanDuel Sportsbook is the perfect addition to Sports & Social Maryland and will feature ten betting windows and 31 IGT PlaySports self-service betting terminals.
Sports bettors and customers visiting Live! Casino & Hotel Maryland will be able to enjoy a FanDuel Sportsbook retail experience that fans in other states have grown to love, featuring an incredible game-day atmosphere with wagering options available across a variety of sporting events. FanDuel provides its proprietary risk and trading technology that leverages the IGT PlaySports platform to offer bets on all major U.S. sports, including professional football, basketball, baseball, tennis, MMA, soccer, golf, motorsports racing and more.
There’s also this:
For those new to sports betting, FanDuel offers on-site customer service experts who will walk customers through the sports betting process, as well as an online betting guide to help customers learn the ins and outs of legal sports betting. FanDuel is also the industry leader in promoting responsible play. They provide their on-site staff with responsible wagering training including offering customers support services through its PlaySafe site.
I know that sportsbooks and casinos have to go through the charade that no one in the history of Maryland has ever placed a bet on a sporting event before–as silly as this concept is in reality. Generally speaking, I’ve found that most retail sportsbooks do a good job of helping novice bettors–even before the fall of PASPA and the nationwide spread. The dog and pony show that sports betting is some new, never before seen concept is pretty disingenuous.
As you’re no doubt aware, FanDuel is all over the place. They’ve got retail locations in 13 states–Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. They’ve also got mobile betting in Arizona, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, Michigan and Virginia. As for Maryland, look for a lot more news coming out ‘The Old Line State’ in the weeks and month to come.
