Maryland saw more than $478 million in mobile sports bets in December, the first full month where gamblers could place wagers from their phones.
According to Maryland Lottery and Gaming data, gamblers placed a total of $497,121,656 worth of mobile and in-person bets at the state’s nine retail and seven mobile sportsbooks, with the vast majority coming from wagers placed from bettors’ mobile devices. Last month, the state reported a total of roughly $219 million in total sports bets, but mobile sports betting was only available for nine days at the end of the month.
The seven sportsbooks with mobile offerings reported a profit of $298,609 on mobile sports bets in December, compared to a loss of over $38 million in November, when Draft Kings and FanDuel combined to offer more than $35 million in promotional bets in just nine days.
December saw gamblers take advantage of more than $70 million in promotion bets, a way that sportsbooks are trying to get new customers through so-called “free bets,” where books will offer to match deposits, give bet insurance and give special odds for bets that have a high chance of winning — an example is a bet that wins if either team scores just one point.
