The state of Maryland has enjoyed a ton of success since legalizing online sports betting, and lawmakers were hoping to take the next step. Lawmakers have ended their legislative session for the time being, and a bill was removed over the last few days.
The hope was that a bill would be passed in this legislative session, and that would give voters a chance to decide the fate of online casinos. Any new iGaming bill would have to be added to the state’s constitution, and that is the same process that sports betting had to go through.
Initial bills were gaining some momentum as they moved through the state legislature, but iGaming was not included in the state budget for next year. Because of the way that the lawmaking process is set up in Maryland, the next chance to legalize iGaming will come in 2027.
Groups Fighting Back
While there is always opposition in every state when it comes to legalizing iGaming, there seemed to be louder opposition in this state. Not only were there some outside opponents to iGaming bills, but the brick-and-mortar casinos pushed back in a big way as well.
Leaders of brick-and-mortar casinos were worried that online casinos would hurt the in-person revenue, and it could have also taken away some jobs. There were some studies done to fight back against these concerns, but the opposition never seemed to go away.
Problem gambling is always a major concern as well, and those fears tend to pop up every time that a state looks at legalizing a new gaming bill. Maryland already has some strict rules in place to combat this issue, but some lawmakers simply weren’t convinced.
Those in favor of iGaming in Maryland just continued to point to other states in order to try and generate some support, but it wasn’t enough. The House of Delegates actually passed an iGaming bill, but things always fell apart in the Senate.
There was one final push over the last few weeks, and several amendments were made to the initial bill. Some members of the Senate were pushing back simply to stall, and that tactic ended up shutting things down.
More Attempts Coming
Since 2024 is an election year, candidates that appear on the ballot are all going to have to make their opinions felt on this issue. Voters are going to cast their ballots based on how they feel about candidates and their stance on iGaming.
Maryland was not the only state in which online gaming bills fell short this year, as New York lawmakers were unable to get a bill passed either. That state is expected to take the issue back up right away in 2025, but that won’t be the case in the state of Maryland.
This state will continue to try to expand online sports betting options in the coming years, and those top operators could eventually end up offering both forms of gaming. Eventually iGaming will likely come to Maryland, but it’s going to take some additional attempts.
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