Long Shot's among businesses seeking mobile sports betting approval

Jack Hogan, The Frederick News-Post, Md.
·2 min read

Nov. 15—Long Shot's restaurant and bar in Frederick is one of 10 Maryland businesses that might receive approval for mobile sports betting on Wednesday.

The Maryland Sports Wagering Application Review Commission is set to meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday to decide whether each of the 10 businesses will receive a license, be denied a license or be held for future consideration.

A license from the commission will not allow Long Shot's or any of the other business to immediately begin taking wagers, according to a meeting announcement from the commission on Monday. Each applicant will have to receive final approval from the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Agency to launch mobile sports betting.

The final step for each applicant will be completing controlled demonstration of its mobile sports betting systems and procedures.

If Long Shot's receives approval on Wednesday, the business will offer mobile sports betting "as soon as possible," owner Alyse Cohen said in a phone interview. Cohen said the business does not yet have a set date for when it would begin offering mobile sports betting.

Long Shot's is scheduled to open a temporary in-person sports betting book on Nov. 21, Cohen said.

The restaurant and bar is expected to unveil its permanent in-person sports betting book — which will be 8,000 square feet, and include a 90-foot television wall and lounge chairs — in early 2023, she said.

"It's gonna be like a little slice of Vegas," Cohen said.

It's been two years since Maryland voters supported the authorization of sports betting to increase revenue for public education. Mobile wagering is expected to account for the bulk of the state's revenue from sports wagering, commission Chair Tom Brandt said in the commission's meeting announcement.

In a statement on Monday, Gov. Larry Hogan, R, said the state overcame "countless legal, political and bureaucratic delays" to reach the doorstep of businesses being cleared for mobile sports betting in Maryland.

"After repeated interventions by our administration, we now anticipate the launch of mobile sports betting this month, and we are cautiously optimistic that it will be in time for Thanksgiving," Hogan wrote in a statement on Monday.

Wednesday's meeting will be at the Maryland Lottery and Gaming Control Agency's headquarters in Baltimore. It will be live-streamed at swarc.org and on the Maryland General Assembly's website, mgaleg.maryland.gov.

The nine other businesses that will be considered for approval on Wednesday are:

— Arundel Amusements (Bingo World in Baltimore)

— BetMGM Maryland Sports

— Crown MD Online Gaming (DraftKings)

— CZR Maryland Mobile Opportunity (Horseshoe Casino Baltimore)

— Greenmount Station Off Track Betting

— Maryland Stadium Sub (Washington Commanders)

— PENN Maryland OSB (Hollywood Casino Perryville)

— PPE Maryland Mobile (Live! Casino and Hotel Maryland)

— Riverboat on the Potomac, which is in Virginia but has plans for a sports wagering facility in Maryland.

Follow Jack Hogan on Twitter: @jckhogan