Maryland halts online casino bill push after budget agreement
Hopes for online casino legalization in 2024 were dashed amid budget negotiations in Maryland. With online casino revenues not included in state budget contracts, Maryland residents will likely have to wait until at least 2027 to see progress in this regard.
Maryland Legislature Ends Without Including Online Casino Revenue
The state legislature did not include online casino revenue as a source of funding in the budget deal reached on April 3. The result pushes any potential discussion of legalizing online casinos into the next year.
While there were initially expectations for a referendum that would reach Maryland voters by 2026, recent developments suggest such discussions may not gain traction until later.
Senator Ron Watson said the possibility of the mobile casino app being the first to come up and running in Maryland would be 2027 as the bill fell through this year.
Even as Maryland has already allowed legal sports betting and holding offline casinos, the road to online casino legislation seems to be fraught with obstacles. Stakeholders in the online casino industry will have to address concerns about problem gambling and potential competition with existing physical casinos to gain support in future sessions.
Maryland's Online Casino Bill Faces Resistance
Excluding online casinos from the state budget is particularly important given the initial momentum of the bill's motion. The House of Representatives passed a bill to support online casinos, which was included in the budget, but Senate leaders were adamant about such a move.
Supporters have argued that regulated iGaming can address illegal gambling, but the debate over potential job losses and addiction risks has continued, and the bill is undergoing significant changes to address a range of concerns.
Several challenges contributed to the end of the online casino bill. Not all casinos supported the plan, with Maryland Live! and Ocean Downs casinos expressing concerns about potential job losses and the cannibalization of their businesses. Arundel County, where Maryland Live! is located, also advocated for research that corroborated concerns about cannibalism.
There was also strong opposition from labor unions to legalization efforts.
At the same time, a recent study commissioned by the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA) challenged the traditional belief that online casinos could encroach on traditional offline stores, instead revealing a symbiotic relationship between the two. 바카라사이트
The study, conducted by Analysis Group, found that six states had significant increases in overall gaming revenue, suggesting that online gaming is more complementary than competing with real casinos.