How to get a gambling licence in Maryland: by tender

Two bodies share the work. The Commission issues every sports wagering licence and regulates the licensee afterwards, and SWARC decides who is awarded a mobile or facility licence in the competitive process.

• The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency administers the State lottery, casinos and sports wagering. The seven-member Commission regulates sports wagering to the same extent as video lottery terminals and table games.
• SWARC has seven members and terminates on 1 January 2028. The Governor may reconstitute it 1 year before a sports wagering licence expires or after a licence is revoked or surrendered.
• There is no separate advertising regulator and no separate gambling AML authority. The Commission regulates licensee advertising, and AML supervision of licensed sportsbooks is federal.
• No bill to authorise internet casino gaming, poker or sweepstakes became law in the 2025 or 2026 sessions. Internet gaming would need a constitutional-referendum law first.
• The Agency lists twelve licensed sportsbook brands as of 7 November 2026.

Laws that apply

• State Government Article, Title 9, Subtitle 1E (Sports Wagering, ss. 9-1E-01 to 9-1E-17), enacted by Chapter 356 of 2021 (HB 940) under the 2020 constitutional referendum law (Chapter 492 of 2020)
• COMAR Title 36, Subtitle 10 (sports wagering, 18 chapters) and Subtitle 11 (Sports Wagering Application Review Commission)
• Chapter 604 of the Acts of 2025 (Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2025, HB 352), which set the mobile share retained by the licensee at 80% of proceeds
• State Government Article, Title 9, Subtitle 1D and COMAR Title 36, Subtitle 09 (online fantasy competitions)
• Constitution of Maryland, Article XIX, which requires a referendum before any additional form of commercial gaming
• Criminal Law Article, Title 12 (the general gambling offences and the slot machine ban), and State Government Article, Title 9, Subtitle 1A (video lottery and table games, land-based)

Maryland licenses sports wagering in two layers, retail and mobile, and licenses the businesses that run or supply a mobile operation separately. Mobile licences are capped at 60 and last 5 years.

• Cap: the statute caps mobile licences at 60 and lets SWARC award up to 30 further Class B facility licences. Online sports wagering operator, contractor and employee licences are not capped, and fantasy operator registrations are not capped.
• The competitive window is closed. SWARC accepted applications from 6 September to 21 October 2022 and said no other window was planned. It may open more only if it has not awarded the maximum, at its discretion and with the approval of a majority of SWARC members.
• A mobile licensee may contract with only one online sports wagering operator, and related entities count as one licensee. An operator may serve more than one mobile licensee, each needing its own operator licence application and fee.
• Brands run under each licensee. A mobile licensee may use only one individually branded website and an accompanying application, and the Commission approves the website or app a player registers on. The law does not tie a licence to a domain and sets no per-domain fee.
• Renewal is an application, not automatic. The licensee applies at least 6 months before expiry (mobile and facility licences) or 1 year before (operator and contractor licences) and must again show qualification by clear and convincing evidence.
• A licence follows an ownership change only with the Commission: a licensee may not transfer an interest in its licence without notifying the Commission before the transfer.

No Maryland entity, office, director or minimum share capital is required. What decides an application is honesty, character and financial stability, shown by clear and convincing evidence for the applicant and every person who must be qualified.

• The online sports wagering operator must be an entity registered with a state to do business within a jurisdiction of the United States. Any applicant that is not an individual must show good standing to conduct business in Maryland with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation, and a corporation names its State of incorporation and its Maryland resident agent.
• An EU or EEA company, or any non-US company, has no separate route and no bar: it must register in a US state and be in good standing in Maryland. The background investigation of a non-US citizen includes an international criminal history records check.
• No minimum share capital is set. Financial capacity is tested instead: a performance bond, and reserves against outstanding winnings and unsettled wagers in cash, cash equivalents, an irrevocable letter of credit, a surety bond or a combination.
• Everyone with a 5% or greater interest, principals, principal employees, principal entities, holding companies and affiliates are disclosed and must be qualified. Individuals give identity data and fingerprints for a State and FBI criminal records check, and the applicant lists the directors, officers and partners serving in the first year with each one's occupation in the preceding 5 years.
• The Commission must disqualify an applicant that fails to prove qualification, withholds or misstates a material fact, is convicted of an offence of moral turpitude or a gambling or sports wagering offence (or committed such an act within 7 years), is a career offender or associate, or acts in a way that would bring the State into disrepute. It may deny where a sports wagering licence elsewhere was denied, suspended or revoked.
• A licence held in Maryland or another US state can earn a waiver of some or all requirements if the Commission finds the other regulator's standards comprehensive and thorough. The minority business enterprise and SWARC requirements cannot be waived. No non-US licence is recognised.
• A labour peace agreement with each labour organisation actively seeking to represent sports wagering workers is required unless a collective bargaining agreement exists, and every sports wagering applicant files an affidavit on its minority and women owners and employees.
• An applicant that was refused, or whose previous licence was revoked, may not apply again for 1 year after the Commission's final action.

A mobile applicant files twice: a SWARC application to SWARC, and a qualification file to the Commission through the MLGCA eLicensing portal. Neither the statute nor the regulations set a decision deadline for the Commission.

• The Commission side is online only. The MLGCA accepts no paper applications, takes information and uploads through its password-protected eLicensing portal, sworn before a notary. Access is requested from the Licensing Division, and a started file can be saved for 180 days.
• Operator, contractor and employee applications go to the Commission only. Every company seeking sports-wagering-related authorisation first submits the Sports Wagering Facility/Mobile Determinations Form describing the goods and services it intends to provide.
• The Commission file holds personal and background information with fingerprints, consent to investigation, organisational documents, ownership and voting rights, directors and officers, outside interests and any sports wagering business elsewhere, information held by other gaming regulators, and evidence of good standing and resident agent.
• SWARC adds a five-year business plan: revenue estimates, pre-launch and marketing expenses, projected capital investment and operating expenses, a projected balance sheet at licensure and the estimated timeline from award to first wager. The Commission's own qualification file needs no business plan.
• The application fee is nonrefundable and is paid by wire transfer, money order or certified cheque, or by electronic funds transfer for the SWARC fee. The initial payment on submitting records through eLicensing is $5,287.25, including a $2,000 background investigation deposit.
• Commission staff tell the applicant of any deficiency, and the applicant has 15 days to cure it. Investigation costs are reimbursed on invoice, and an applicant may not begin accepting wagers until it has paid them and the application fee in full.
• Before a licence issues the applicant may pre-register account holders but may not take wagers, except in a scheduled controlled demonstration. Facility and mobile applicants may advertise their intent only after the licence is issued.
• The 2022 mobile round shows the sequence, not a typical timeline: the SWARC window closed 21 October 2022, the Commission found the first mobile applicants qualified on 27 October 2022, SWARC made the first mobile awards on 14 November 2022 and the first mobile launches were on 23 November 2022.
• A refusal by the Commission can be challenged: staff give written notice of a recommended denial, the applicant may ask for a reconsideration meeting within 15 days, then for a hearing within 15 days of the result, and the final action is subject to judicial review. A SWARC denial is reviewed by the State Board of Contract Appeals on written notice within 10 days.

A mobile licence costs $500,000 to apply and a $1,500,000 performance bond, with no separate issuance fee and no annual fee. An operator-only entrant pays $25,000 and carries the same bond.

• There is no annual licence fee for a mobile licence and no minimum annual fee. The renewal fee is due once in 5 years. It is based on the amount the licensee retained, as Chapter 604 of 2025 amended the statute, although COMAR 36.10.05.02I(2) still prints the older gross-revenue base.
• Performance bond: a mobile licence needs $1,500,000, and an online sports wagering operator licence needs $1,500,000. The Commission may not issue or renew the licence without the bond or an exemption.
• A separate reserve, in an amount the Commission approves, must cover the licensee's outstanding liability to bettors. It must be at least $500,000 and held at an FDIC-insured institution. A surety bond used for the reserve must be valid for the 5-year licence term.
• No fee is charged per domain or website, and no fee per product. The Commission approves websites and apps.
• No fixed responsible gambling contribution or charitable payment is imposed on a sports wagering licensee. Winning wagers not claimed within 182 days go to the Problem Gambling Fund.
• Testing laboratory fees, the annual audit by a certified public accountant and the security assessments are the licensee's own duties. The rules set no amount and say nothing on who pays.
• For a new mobile licensee running through one operator, the fixed official sums are the $500,000 mobile application fee plus the $25,000 operator application fee, which is $525,000, plus the $1,500,000 bond and the $2,000 deposit. Each principal employee pays $5,287.25. Tax, testing, audit and insurance are extra.

Maryland takes a share of proceeds: 20% of online sports wagering proceeds and 15% of retail. Winnings are taxed as income, and Maryland has no value-added tax.

• The 20% rate rose from 15% with Chapter 604 of 2025, effective 1 June 2025. Of the 20%, 5% of the proceeds from online sports wagering goes to the General Fund and the rest to the Blueprint for Maryland's Future Fund.
• Proceeds are the amount wagered less money returned to winning bettors, prizes, free bets and promotional credits redeemed, and federal excise taxes paid. The statute sets no cap on the promotional deduction. After the first full fiscal year, free promotional play is capped at 20 percent of the prior year's proceeds, and the excess counts as proceeds.
• If a licensee pays out more than was wagered in a month, it may subtract the excess from the proceeds of up to the three following months, and not for more than 3 consecutive months.
• The return is filed monthly by the 5th of the following month and the tax is paid by wire transfer by the 7th. If the return and tax are not with the Commission by the 10th calendar day, the licence is automatically suspended.
• There is no minimum tax and no gambling-specific advertising or sponsorship tax. The admissions and amusement tax may not be imposed on sports wagering proceeds.
• State withholding on winnings subject to federal withholding is 9.50% for a resident and 8.75% for a nonresident, and the licensee, as payor, withholds and files IRS Form W-2G. Winnings are fully taxable income for a casual bettor.
• A supplier's revenue carries no gambling tax. Sales and use tax can apply to taxable services and software, and a licensed operator paying a foreign supplier royalties must withhold federal tax at source unless a treaty reduces it.

Maryland licenses no game provider as such, because it permits sports wagering only. A business that runs the sportsbook holds an operator licence, and every other supplier that touches the platform holds a contractor licence.

• A supplier of equipment or software that is not an operator needs a contractor licence from the Commission, without a SWARC award. A contractor licence lets the holder contract only with a licensee, and an operator licence only with a mobile licensee.
• Only a licence from another US state can shorten the process, and only as a waiver the Commission may grant. A foreign supplier is licensed by Maryland and appears on the Maryland register. No non-US licence or foreign laboratory report is recognised.
• A mobile licensee may contract with one operator at a time. The operator's duties may not be assigned, delegated or subcontracted without the Commission's prior approval, and the third party must itself be licensed as an operator.
• The platform and equipment go to an independent certified testing laboratory before use. The laboratory must hold ISO 17025 and ISO 17020 certificates, have tested sports wagering systems for a US state for 5 or more years, and be approved by the Commission. The regulations name no laboratory and print no list.
• COMAR 36.10.18 is the technical standard. It names no GLI or other published laboratory standard, and security testing is against ISO 27001 or similar standards such as CIS or NIST CSF.
• Before launch the licensee completes a controlled demonstration of its operations on two scheduled dates of live wagering under agency observation. Prior written Commission authorisation is needed to place equipment into operation, change a configuration or add a new feature.
• There is no individual game approval. The licensee submits the events and bet types it proposes to offer for approval, and the Commission publishes an Approved Catalog of Events and Wagers, effective 1 November 2026. Changes to the catalogue are notified at least 72 hours in advance.
• The platform validates all critical control program components at least every 24 hours, with a hash of at least 128 bits, and the licensee notifies the Commission within 12 hours of a failure. No source code, game maths or escrow is required.
• Geolocation is required: the licensee must verify the bettor is in Maryland as determined by U.S. Census Map, detect and block attempts from outside, monitor location dynamically, and have the system tested by a Commission-approved laboratory before operations and annually.
• No mirror server is required and the regulations do not require servers to stand in Maryland. Each wager must be initiated, received and otherwise made within the State. A mobile licensee designates a data information center, which needs an approved surveillance system.
• The Commission has read-only access to the platform and a process to query and export all platform data. No real-time feed is prescribed. Data is kept for at least 5 years, and a Commission-approved third party runs a vulnerability and penetration assessment within 90 days of starting operations and every year.
• The maximum wager accepted from a patron on one sporting event is $5,000,000, and no return-to-player rule applies. The MLGCA publishes registers of licensees (14 September 2026), contractors and vendors as downloadable lists, not a searchable database.

The minimum age is 21. Only a registered bettor may wager online, and the Commission's voluntary exclusion list binds every sports wagering licensee.

• A bettor registers online on a website or app the Commission has approved. The licensee records legal name, date of birth, residential and mailing address, phone number, email, social security number or an approved equivalent, and the sources of identity authentication, and keeps them for 5 years.
• Identity is verified through secure online databases and age verification at registration, and each deposit and withdrawal is checked against the information on file. Accounts need multi-factor authentication.
• Funding methods include debit card, electronic bank transfer, online or mobile payment systems and a verified reloadable prepaid card. Credit cards are accepted only by an online licensee, which must make the bettor acknowledge the transaction may be treated as a cash advance. The licensee may not extend credit, and cryptocurrency is not mentioned and would need Commission approval.
• A withdrawal must be completed within 7 days of the request unless there is an unresolved dispute or an investigation. Funds in a bettor's account are held in trust in a segregated account.
• A person asking to join the Commission's voluntary exclusion list chooses at least 2 years or life, and the list is shared with every sports wagering facility and mobile licensee. An exclusion with one platform does not bind the others.
• The platform must offer daily, weekly and monthly deposit limits, loss and wager limits, a single-wager limit, an hourly time limit and a temporary suspension. The bettor chooses whether to set them. No reality check is required.
• Websites carry banners with the gambling assistance message and the underage warning, and promotional terms carry the 1-800-GAMBLER statement. The licensee files a responsible gaming plan at least 60 days before operations start and annually.
• A player can complain to the Commission through its complaint form. Licensees must keep every complaint and response and publish procedures for complaints about misallocated or mishandled accounts.

Licensees may advertise on every channel, within content rules set by statute and in COMAR 36.10.10.03. There is no pre-approval of advertisements and no watershed.

• A licensee may not target advertising to individuals prohibited from wagering or other at-risk individuals, and may not use false or deceptive advertising. Predatory marketing is prohibited.
• Every advertisement carries the gambling assistance message, a phrase the Commission approves, in set formats. On television it runs throughout at a height of at least 3 percent of the image, and on a billboard at a height of at least 5 percent of the face.
• An advertisement may not use or depict anyone who is or appears to be younger than 21, and may not be knowingly directed to a person under 21 or to someone on an exclusion list.
• "Risk-free" and any wording suggesting an outcome is guaranteed or without risk are prohibited. Free promotional play is allowed if it is not awarded as cashable credit, and the terms, which must state wagering requirements, reach the Commission at least 2 days before launch.
• Promotional play of $5,000 or more per wagering day needs approval from the licensee's chief executive or designee. Once a bettor meets a promotion's terms, the licensee may not cap the winnings earned.
• A licensee answers for promotions offered on its behalf by a contractor or marketing affiliate vendor. A sports wagering influencer who creates content for a licensee falls under the independent-evaluator rules.
• Applicants may advertise their intent to offer sports wagering only after the licence is issued.

Licensees file tax monthly, audit annually, test their systems every year and report suspicious wagering to the Commission promptly.

• A licensee with at least $1,000,000 in annual gross revenue is a gaming establishment under the federal Bank Secrecy Act. It files suspicious activity and currency transaction reports and keeps a written AML programme. No Maryland-based reporting officer is required.
• The licensee reports suspicious or illegal wagering and abnormal betting activity to the Commission promptly and keeps books and records for at least 5 years.
• A licensee may transfer an interest in its licence only after notifying the Commission before the transfer and the Commission determining that the buyer qualifies.
• The Commission may fine a licensee up to $5,000 per violation, each day a separate violation, and may suspend or revoke a licence or add conditions.
• The MLGCA's register is a set of downloadable PDF lists. The licensee list of 14 September 2026 gives the name, class, qualification date, SWARC award date and launch date.

The route for a mobile sports wagering licence. The competitive window is closed, so step 2 comes before any filing.

1. 01

   Choose your route

   SG 9-1E-06 · 9-1E-10

   Decide whether to hold a mobile licence yourself, run an operation as a licensed operator for a mobile licensee, or serve licensees as a contractor. Online casino and poker have no licence.

2. 02

   Check whether a place and a window are open

   SG 9-1E-06 · COMAR 36.11

   The statute caps mobile licences at 60. SWARC took applications from 6 September to 21 October 2022 and says no other window is planned, so a new entrant today looks at a future window or an acquisition.

3. 03

   Start the eLicensing file and the determinations form

   COMAR 36.10.02

   Request portal access from the Licensing Division, submit the determinations form, and gather the corporate documents, ownership and voting lists, and fingerprints for each person who must be qualified.

4. 04

   File with SWARC and the Commission

   COMAR 36.11.02 · 36.10.02.03

   Submit the SWARC application with the $500,000 fee and the five-year business plan, and the qualification file with the $2,000 investigation deposit. Costs above it are billed on invoice.

5. 05

   Qualification and award

   SG 9-1E-07

   The Commission must find you qualified by clear and convincing evidence and SWARC must make the award. Cure any deficiency within 15 days.

6. 06

   Bond, test and demonstrate

   COMAR 36.10.14 · 36.10.18

   Post the $1,500,000 performance bond, set up the reserve, send the platform to an approved laboratory, set up geolocation, and complete two controlled demonstration dates before the licence issues.

7. 07

   Go live and keep filing

   COMAR 36.10.12 · 36.10.13

   Pay the 20% share of proceeds by the 7th of each month, audit annually, run the security assessment each year, and apply to renew at least 6 months before the 5-year term ends.

For a business that runs online sports wagering on behalf of a mobile licensee. The Commission issues the licence without a SWARC award, with no cap and no window.

1. 01

   Sign the agreement with a mobile licensee

   SG 9-1E-10

   A mobile licensee may contract with one operator at a time. The written agreement with the licensee is submitted before applying.

2. 02

   File through eLicensing

   COMAR 36.10.06.02

   Register to do business in a US state and in Maryland, name a resident agent, pay the $25,000 application fee and the $2,000 deposit, and show the $1,500,000 bond.

3. 03

   Hold the licence

   COMAR 36.10.06.02

   The licence lasts 5 years and renews for $25,000 on application at least 1 year before expiry. A second licence with a further mobile licensee needs its own application and fee.

For platform, odds, data, hosting, payment and security businesses that supply a licensee, and for non-gaming vendors. The Commission issues the licence without a hearing in the ordinary case.

1. 01

   Ask the Agency to place you

   Determinations form

   Send the determinations form to the Regulatory Licensing division so the Agency can decide the class. It requires proof of registration and an agreement with a Maryland casino or sports wagering operation.

2. 02

   Apply and pay

   COMAR 36.10.06.04

   File in eLicensing. A Tier 1 contractor pays $1,500 to apply and $2,500 for the licence, Tier 2 pays $750 and $800. Employees need an employee licence.

3. 03

   Register as a vendor if you are not a contractor

   COMAR 36.10.06.11

   Non-gaming goods and services of $50,000 or more a year to a Maryland sponsoring entity need registration for $100, unless the Commission directs otherwise. A vendor may not supply a licensee until registered.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 7 Nov 2026.