ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD — With Governor Hogan signing sports betting into law, casinos across the state are gearing up to serve fans looking to put their money where their mouth is.
For sports fans who want to do a little bit more than just root for their team, the stage is set for sports betting to begin as soon as this football season.
"I used to fly to Vegas from Dallas just to bet on NFL games," said Pervaiz Hameed
He couldn't be happier since later this summer he can do his sports betting right here in Maryland.
There's a level of excitement that's going to come from the middle of these casinos and these zones where you get the real stadium kind of experience in a facility like this," said Rob Norton, the president of Cordish Gaming.
Hopes that experience brings in a newer crowd who were less likely to visit the casino regardless of what style of betting they prefer
"Whether that's trade up on your favorite team, whether that's a parlay where you're picking 3 and 4 teams or whether it's the new trend in in-game betting," said Norton.
He tells us he's looking forward to the new atmosphere sports betting will create there
"The cheering the screaming and now you have that level of energy knowing you've got a couple of dollars riding on the game making it even more energized," Norton said.
Sports betting has strong potential for a healthy pay off for the state of Maryland as well.
In Pennsylvania, it created more than $137 million dollars in taxes to the state.
We hope to see some crossover that will help with the state's tax collections through creating new customers
New and existing customers like Hameed, who can't wait to make his first wager.
"I live about 10 minutes away from here in so I can even come here on Sundays and make instant bets so that will be nice," he said.
Though the law goes into effect in June they'll be waiting for final regulations from that state as soon as this summer.
