During this year, State Senator Ronald L. Watson, D-Prince George’s County, was the co-sponsor of a failed bill (SB 267) that attempted to approve Maryland’s online casinos. Now, there will be a serious approach to consider that possibility again.
The Maryland Lottery and Gaming Commission (MLGC) will conduct a study to determine the state’s potential outcome of legalizing online casinos. This study could find that the state would benefit from online casino gaming. In that case, Watson (and other proponents) would likely introduce legislation to legalize this gambling form in the next year’s legislative session. While the 2023 bill fell short, this investigation could influence more lawmakers to vote on it. Since Maryland’s state constitution forbids gambling, any changes must be approved by voters.
The state lottery will set up a third party to handle the study. Once established, the group will focus its research on a few essential areas, such as: a) Estimated online casino market size in Maryland; b) Potential economic impact on the state’s retail casino locations; c) Potential impact on the state’s lottery system; d) Online casino potential impact on problem gambling, and e) Results from other states with legal online casinos. The conclusions have to be submitted by November 15th, 2023 to the Maryland General Assembly.
A SECOND CHANCE TO LEGALIZATION
In January 2023, state senators Watson and Nancy King introduced the ‘Internet Gaming Authorization and Implementation Act’ (SB 267). But the bill missed the legislature’s crossover deadline in March. Still, it generated enough attention, and Maryland legislators included the MLGC online casino impact study in the next year’s budget. Different provisions of SB267 also can make their way into 2024’s legislation.
Some highlights of Maryland’s online casino bill include: a) The State Lottery and Gaming Commission will oversee online casino; b) An initial license fee of USD 500,000 for five years; c) A license renewal fee of 1% of the average annual proceeds from the previous three years; d) Online casino revenue tax rate of 15%; e) Operators can deduct free play and promotional credits from revenue before paying taxes, and f) State tax revenue minus regulatory expenses would go to the Education Trust Fund.
MARYLAND SPORTS BETTING HAS BEEN PROFITABLE FOR SEVEN MONTHS
This state allows legal sports betting in retail casinos, stadiums, and online sportsbooks. Players can also bet on pari-mutuel horse racing and daily fantasy sports. The state legalized Maryland sportsbooks in December 2021, while online sports betting went live in November last year.
Online sports betting in Maryland came more than two years after voters approved of sports betting at the election. Maryland lawmakers established the outline in the spring of 2021, and Gov. Larry Hogan signed the legislation in May 2021. There are currently 10 Maryland sportsbook apps, including renowned online gambling brands like BetMGM, BetRiver, Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel. Tax revenue goes toward helping fund public schools.