The month of August had some good news for sportsbooks and the state casinos. There are six casinos in Maryland and their August revenue figures were 0.5 per cent higher than in the corresponding month in 2021.
A total of $169.3 million of gaming revenue was recorded. Although that’s up from August of last year, the revenue was down from that recorded in July of this year. That month was rather a hard act to follow. A record revenue figure of $181.5 million was the July gaming revenue amount.
It’s the MGM National Harbor Casino came top of the earnings table with gaming revenue of $71.8 million. That was 6.5 per cent higher than the figure record in August of last year. It was $56.8 million for Live! Casino & Hotel and the Horseshoe Casino recorded a figure of $17.2 million. For both of those casinos, the figures were down on those they recorded 12 months ago.
The state of Maryland received just over $70 million from tax revenue, 0.6 percent down from August 2021. Of the amount received, $51.5 million went to the Education Trust Fund.
This week has seen the Maryland Lottery give their initial approval for DraftKings to open a sportsbook in the state. This will be at the Timonium Racetrack which is situated at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. The application was in the name of Crown Maryland Gaming. That’s a company who has DraftKings as their owners.
The licence would be for a period of 10 years and part of a deal that DraftKings signed with the Maryland State Fair two years ago. The two will share the costs that will be incurred when renovating part of the racetrack. This will be an area under the grandstands and that’s where the new sportsbook facility will be housed.
While DraftKings wait to open in Maryland, PointsBet have now launched their retail sportsbook in the state. It was in May of last year that the state made online and sports retail betting. A month after that happened, PointsBet said they’d secured access to both the retail and online markets in the state. This was via a partnership deal with a business.
This is the 12th US state in which they have launched. They expect their online betting site will launch in Maryland in the third quarter of the 2023 financial year.
