Maryland achieved one its highest sports betting handles in history, increasing by 21.3% and taking the total to $4.07 billion for the fiscal year.
Maryland Sports Betting Handle
The Maryland sports betting handle finished on $536.7m for March and was close to the highest amount achieved in a singular month.
This handle was up by 39% year-on-year in the state, increasing from the $386m managed in the same month last year.
In February, the handle dropped by 18.8% from January’s $545m, which came as a surprise due to the Super Bowl in early February.
This decrease may have been down to the number of days in the month being less than the other 11 across the year, as well as the NBA All-Star gap from the 16th-21st.
When looking at the factors of this handle, mobile betting contributed to $522.1, which is 97.3% of the final total and retail added a further $14.6m.
The $536.7m made during March helped reach $4.07bn for the fiscal year and this is up by 104.8% when compared to the $1.99bn made at this stage in 2023.
Sports bettors in Maryland enjoyed their wagers during March, with operators holding 8.4% and dropping from the 12.3% held in March 2023.
Maryland sports betting operators had to pay $491.6m in prizes, which is a staggering increase of $150m from February’s $338.4m.
Online sports betting has seen a huge rise in Maryland, after an online casino bill was put forward on March 26th – passing the house but bringing a host of unresolved problems.
After winning by a majority of 92-43 on March 14th, the bills discussion in the senate opened a debate over certain issues including brick-and-mortar cannibalization and furthering issues with gambling addiction.
The bill, HB 1319, would let online casinos to be accessed across the state which is an issue for some due to Maryland’s retail casino market – with online sports betting being legalized in November 2022.