After HB 1319, the House’s online casino gambling bill, passed through the lower chamber by a 92-43 vote, the Senate declined to even take it up in discussions and did not include it in its budget proposal, effectively extinguishing any chance iGaming would be coming to the Old Line State this year.
Let’s go through the main points behind the Senate’s decline and analyze its potential impact on the online sportsbooks industry.
Not This Year
Many gaming industry pundits believed Maryland was the most likely state to adopt iGaming this year but that scenario did not come to pass after the Maryland Senate did not include it as a revenue source in their budget proposal. That turned the lights out on the volatile topic as only seven states in the nation including Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and most recently Rhode Island have regulated the highly lucrative revenue stream.
Senator Ron Watson said, “Neither iGaming nor the referendum will move forward this session.” Senator Watson is a proponent of online casino gaming, having sponsored Senate Bill 603 which would have also legalized iGaming but it did not pass muster with his colleagues in the Senate.
“The House is being proactive in saying we need to take action now because, even though we have a balanced budget, this fiscal need exists and we need to start capturing that revenue today. The Senate recognizes the fiscal challenges ahead but believes we’ve passed a balanced budget and can revisit this next year.”
There was a slight chance the Senate could have moved the question to a referendum on the ballot, allowing the residents of Maryland to decide for themselves, but that was also not granted by the Senate budget committee.
Wait until 2026
Some of the obstacles facing online casino gaming bills in Maryland came in the form of two of the six casinos operating in the state. Maryland Live! and Ocean Downs Casino expressed apprehension concerning the cannibalization of their brick-and-mortar businesses, which would result in reduced revenues and job losses.
Despite the fact that the vast majority of studies have shown online casinos do not cannibalize the retail casino business, it didn’t appear to convince management at those two properties nor many state senators.
“I’ve told colleagues, as did Del. [Vanessa] Atterbeary in the House, that there haven’t been any proven cases of cannibalization in any state that has iGaming. Unfortunately, Maryland Live! is saying there is cannibalization and job loss when the fact is that they offer online casino in Pennsylvania and are looking to hire more workers at Philadelphia Live!”
Naturally, the sponsor of House Bill 1319, Vanessa Atterbeary, was disappointed with the lack of support in the Senate. Atterbeary had stressed the state’s educational fund needs additional revenue to sustain it past 2027.
“I put this in because I’m very passionate about our children, which I know all of you are. And, as all of you know, we are running out of Blueprint funds come 2028. This is the House’s way and the way Ways and Means came up with to generate funds specifically for the Blueprint. I am passionate about not walking back on that commitment, particularly to our Pre-K three and four-year-olds.”
Unfortunately for those lawmakers who were seeking online casino gaming as a potent new revenue source for the state, the question won’t likely be addressed again until next year but the most feasible scenario is that Maryland voters will ultimately decide the fate of iGaming in a referendum question in 2026.
Should the Maryland electorate vote to bring online casino gambling to the masses then those launches wouldn’t happen until 2027 at the earliest.
