How to Start Sports Betting in Maryland

For the moment, you’ll still have to visit one of five retail locations open across the state since December of 2021, Typically, you can place a bet either with a live representative or with a touchscreen kiosk. Payment options at kiosks vary. If you sign up with any of the host casinos’ rewards programs, you’ll be the first to know when those retail sportsbooks launch their online and mobile options in Maryland. That is currently expected sometime in the latter half of 2022.

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Sports Betting Mistakes to Avoid in Maryland

The landscape will change dramatically with the introduction of mobile betting in 2022, but in the interim bettors need to realize there are some cautions to take when placing a sports bet at a casino. For starters, bettors need to know how live tellers and kiosks accept bets (cash, card, user account funds, etc.). These details can vary at each retail sportsbook. Secondly, if you are visiting a live teller to place your wager, it can be helpful to research odds and your potential wager in advance since you won’t have a screen directly in front of you. Thirdly, give yourself a bit of time. The immediate response to retail sports betting has been enormous, with the state generating $16 million of wagering in December of 2021 alone, according to a report from the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency. Consider visiting a retail sportsbook at less trafficked hours — particularly in the weekday daytime when there are fewer live events going on — until online and mobile wagering is available.

Sports Teams to Bet on in Maryland

Fans in Maryland have an abundance of teams seeking to claim their attention, and in the case of bettors, their financial backing. Pro teams in Baltimore and Washington both claim Maryland as their local territory, as do multiple major college football and basketball programs.

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Baltimore Ravens:

The Ravens have won two Super Bowls since moving to Baltimore in the mid-1990s, and have one of the NFL‘s most electrifying players in Lamar Jackson. They’re also the closest team in Maryland to a retail sportsbook, a few hundred yards closer to the Caesars location (above) than the neighboring Orioles (below).

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles are in rebuilding mode, but have one of MLB‘s most talented farm systems and — in Oriole Park at Camden Yards — one of the nation’s premier ballparks. The Birds’ future may soon be like their storied past, when they won three World Series and reached six between 1966 and 1983

Washington Football Team

The WFT has fallen on some lean years, but their fans remain some of the most loyal and die-hard in the NFL. They’re still only one of nine teams to win at least three Super Bowl titles, and one of only eight to make at least five appearances in the big game.

Washington Nationals

The Nationals brought baseball back to Washington in 2008 and won D.C.’s first World Series in 95 years in 2019. They’re also one of the first major league clubs to feature a retail sportsbook inside the stadium.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals captured their first Stanley Cup in 2018, and Alex Ovechkins has spent his entire Hall of Fame career in D.C. They play at Capital One Arena, which is also home to a retail sportsbook run by Caesars, and are a perennial playoff contender.

Washington Wizards

It’s been a while since the glory days of the 1970s, but three-time All-Star Bradley Beal and company can still capture local fans’ imagination. They also play at Capital One Arena, which not only boasts a retail Caesars location but also loads of nearby bars and restaurants.

D.C. United

One of Major League Soccer‘s founding members, D.C. United continues to represent the region in Major League Soccer, the highest professional level of the world’s game in the United States in Canada. The Black-and-Red are four-time MLS Cup champions.

The Washington Mystics

The Mystics have been a member of the WNBA since the league’s second season, and their best seasons have come recently. They won the WNBA title in 2019 after reaching their first final the season before. They’ll play their 25th season in 2022.

Maryland Football

The Terrapins are trying to build a culture of winning under coach Mike Locksley, and won their first bowl game in more than a decade in December of 2021.

Navy Football

With the Naval Academy based in the state capital of Annapolis, Maryland, the Midshipmen are one of the most unique college football programs in the country, and one half of arguably the college game’s greatest rivalry, the Army-Navy game.

Maryland Basketball

The Terps cagers are in a year of transition after head coach Mark Turgeon stepped down, but this is always a program with the potential to build a championship-level squad while recruiting from two nearby, talent-rich cities. Coach Gary Williams won Maryland’s only national title in 2002.

Georgetown Basketball

Before Maryland’s triumph, the Hoyas were once the regional power while producing the likes of Alan Iverson, Dekimbe Mutumbo, Alonzo Mourning and current coach Patrick Ewing.

Other Sports in Maryland to Bet On

There are some special aspects to the landscape of Maryland sports that not everyone may be aware of, but can also offer some interesting betting opportunities for those in the know.

The Preakness / Horse Racing

Baltimore’s Pimlico Racetrack has hosted The Preakness, the second jewel of horse racing’s triple crown, every year for more than a century and for nearly 150 years total. Preakness Day — the third Saturday in May — is the banner day for a state with an underrated racing industry. There are five horse racing tracks in the state in total (three thoroughbred, two harness), and 282 total days of live racing scheduled in 2022.

Championship Boxing

There have been several high profile fights in Maryland in recent years. MGM National Harbor has welcomed Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk, Lamont Peterson and Gary Russell Jr., among others. Gervonta Davis also fought in his native Baltimore in 2019. Teofimo Lopez, who defeated Lomachenko in a unification bout in 2020, is scheduled to contest a title eliminator at National Harbor in July of 2022.

Mid-Major College Football and Basketball

While Maryland, Georgetown and Navy are the only local major college programs, Maryland is home to nine NCAA Division I athletics programs. Towson University and Morgan State also have Division 1 FCS Subdivision football programs. Coppin State, Loyola-Baltimore, Maryland-Baltimore County, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Morgan, Mt. St. Mary’s, Navy and Towson all have men’s and women’s basketball programs.

Maryland Sports Betting Site Promotions

The most lucrative sports betting promotions typically apply to online and mobile wagering, which is not yet live in Maryland. But the good news is that many of the companies known for promotions ranging between $500 and $1,000 in value for first-time users are operating retail books in Maryland, including FanDuel, Caesars, BetMGM, Barstool Sports and Twin Spires.

Maryland Sports Betting Law

Sports betting was approved by voter referendum in the 2020 federal election, with the potential for more than 100 licenses in total to be awarded between physical retail and online/mobile wagering. Class A licenses are for the state’s six casinos, three major league sports stadiums and the Maryland Jockey Club. Class B are for up to 30 more physical locations (not including seven more for off-track betting and large bingo locations), and Class C are for up to 60 mobile licenses. The previously mentioned Sportsbooks above were awarded the first five Class A licenses in the state. The Riverboat on the Potomac, Greenmount Station and Long Shots — three off-track betting locations — have been approved for Class B licenses and are expected to open in 2022. Online and mobile betting isn’t expected to launch until the fall of 2022, in part due to a regulatory drive to make sure more woman- and minority-owned businesses are among those issued mobile licenses. Class A and Class B license holders are both eligible to apply for class C licenses. There has been some suggestion the state could attempt a uniform mobile launch — meaning all awarded mobile licenses would begin taking wagers at the same time — though that has not been decided.