Maryland education plan set to benefit from successful betting launch

(PRESS RELEASE) -- Maryland’s education fund will receive a boost as the state greeted the opening of regulated online sports betting with record setting enthusiasm.

16.5 million geolocation transactions were recorded over the course of U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday, according to data from geolocation and fraud specialist GeoComply.

GeoComply SVP Compliance Lindsay Slader commented: “A strong start for the regulated market delivers on the promise of new revenues and consumer protections. Marylanders will continue to ditch illegal offshore sportsbooks for the security of legal, regulated operators that provide player safeguards and tax dollars for the state, just as lawmakers intended.”

When the law passed in 2021, policymakers cited mobile sports betting as an important component of revenues for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund. In recent months, Governor Larry Hogan publicly urged for an expedited launch of mobile betting to bring tax dollars into the state’s education fund and protect consumers.

GeoComply is the trusted geolocation and fraud-prevention solution for approved Maryland sports betting operators, and its data provides a unique view of the Maryland market since it launched on 23 November.

From the moment Maryland launched, betting surged throughout Thanksgiving weekend with local NFL teams in action, big-time college football matchups, a full round of NBA and college basketball, plus the soccer World Cup in Qatar.

Maryland betting action from Wednesday until Sunday (23-27 November), based on GeoComply’s data:

- 7 operators
- 477,365 unique accounts
- 16.5 million geolocation transactions
- 3.7 million geolocation transactions on Thanksgiving Day

Geolocation traffic for Maryland’s Thanksgiving launch was almost double neighboring Virginia and more than four times that of similarly-sized Colorado. Its 16.5 million Thanksgiving transactions were also far in excess of Indiana and Tennessee, and not far off the 17.1 million in the mature market of New Jersey, which has a far bigger population than Maryland.

GeoComply is supporting its customers through its Tier One Contractor license for geolocation and ID verification services. The license allows GeoComply to supply its leading geolocation, ID verification, and fraud detection and prevention services to Maryland’s regulated sports betting operators.