Maryland problem sports betting has reached alarming heights as the state’s market sets new benchmarks for gambling activity.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming announced that the state’s licensed sportsbooks took $650,971,388 in bets in September. The announcement followed a separate state report published in September showing that 50.8% of online sports bettors residing in the state are experiencing harm.
The September handle was an all-time high for Maryland, which launched sports betting in 2021. In September, the Maryland Center of Excellence on Problem Gambling report showed that 19.8% of online sports bettors in the state who had bet in the past year have problems reaching the level of disordered gambling, the most severe form of problem gambling.
Another 31% of those online sports bettors were at-risk of gambling addiction.
The survey found that 11.5% of Maryland adults had bet on sports in the past year. Based on the numbers and the state’s adult population, around 300,000 Maryland adults are suffering from online sports betting harm. That figure would not include people in long-term recovery from sports gambling.
Studies have shown that 8—10 people around a person with gambling addiction also experience harm.
Maryland’s problem sports gambling rates are roughly consistent with national betting addiction statistics.
Why Maryland Problem Sports Betting Matters
The state is home to a growing awareness of the impact of state-sanctioned online gambling. In May, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore signed Senate Bill 310, legislation to teach problem gambling awareness in youth suicide prevention programs.
In April, the City of Baltimore filed a lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel, alleging predatory business practices and addiction harm. The case was still pending as of October.
In February, State Senator Joanne Benson introduced Senate Bill 1033, legislation to repeal the state’s online sports betting law. The bill did not advance during the legislative session.
According to Legal Sports Report’s tracking of publicly released figures, Maryland’s sports betting industry has taken about $15.5 billion in bets since 2021. The sector has generated about $1.8 billion in revenue from those bets.
Maryland sportsbooks have retained about 11.5% of wagers in the form of revenue. This percentage, commonly referred to as the hold, is among the highest in the country.
Only sports gamblers in Louisiana, Montana, Delaware, and Washington, D.C., have done worse than Marylanders, according to Legal Sports Report’s database.
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