Maryland is one of the many states that are currently considering legalizing sports betting to bring in more revenue for the state. The surrounding states including Pennsylvania, Washington DC, Delaware and West Virginia have legalized sports betting markets.
Maryland legislators have called on voters to share their opinion and vote on Ballot Question 2 which will confirm whether voters in the state are in favour of legalized sports betting or not. If the vote comes out in favour of Ballot Question 2 on November 3, Maryland will push forward with legalized sports betting.
Top betting operators have been pumping in lots of cash to sway voters and get them to vote in favour of legalized sports betting. DraftKings and FanDuel which are two of the biggest betting operators in the country have started a campaign called “Vote Yes on Question 2” and have contributed a combined $2.75 million.
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DraftKings initially started with a $250k donation in July and pumped in another $1.5 million in August. The campaign went live in September and received a $1.5 million donation from FanDuel. The majority of these funds have been used for advertising and marketing purposes which includes TV and radio ads and social media advertising. As of now, there is only $486k left out of the $2.75 million.
Should Maryland go ahead and legalize sports betting, these two operators are likely to dominate the sports betting market. The push to legalize sports betting has also received an endorsement from land based casinos and the horse racing industry in the state.
Land based casinos in the state haven’t made big donations to fund the push for sports betting but they are also campaigning by offering free advertising to ‘Fund Our Future’, a group that is campaigning for legalized sports betting.
Some of the top casinos in the state including Hollywood Casino Perryville, The Maryland Jockey Club, Maryland Live! Casino and Hotel and The Horseshoe Casino Baltimore have made small donations that have surpassed $32,000. These funds will be used by the Fund Our Future group to market and advertise their sports betting push.
Maryland legislators are looking at both in-person and online betting should voters agree to legalize US sports betting in the state. The market is expected to generate close to $20 million in annual revenue.
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