Attempts to legalize online gaming and poker in Maryland appear to be dead and come after efforts in 2024 met a similar fate.
For the second straight year, Del. Vanessa Atterbeary filed a bill to legalize online gaming. Sen. Ron Watson, who introduced a similar bill, was also sponsor of a bill to ban sweepstakes casinos.
Watson told Card Player that he believed clearing unlicensed operators from the market could pave the way for legal, regulated online gaming to come to the state. However, the March 17 crossover deadline came and passed without any online casino bill making headway.
As a result, legalized iGaming in Maryland seems incredibly unlikely.
“The intent of this bill is to acknowledge and put a halt to the amount of illegal gaming going on, and the uncaptured state revenue that is missed by not regulating and supporting legal iGaming,” Watson told Card Player about the sweepstakes casino ban. “iGaming is definitely ‘on the table’ and as Maryland’s fiscal challenges become more severe, this is now being considered as a potential option. Daily conversations are ongoing.”
Maryland faces a budget shortfall of of about $3 billion, but Gov. Wes Moore has not included online gaming in his budget outline for the coming fiscal year. Watson has been a vocal advocate for iGaming to help shore up the state’s finances.
Both bills would have taxed online gaming at 55%, except Watson’s proposal put just a 25% levy on live dealer games. Abernathy estimated that the state has an illegal gambling market of $7 billion and hoped her bill would help the state recapture some of that lost revenue via a legal market.
The iDevelopment and Economic Association, a leading online gaming trade group, estimates online casinos could bring in almost $1.7 billion for the stare over the next five years – albeit with a lower tax rate of 30%.
However, not all gaming companies support the effort and believe online gaming cannibalizes live casino customers and revenue. The Cordish Company, Churchill Downs, and other operators have formed the National Association Against iGaming to oppose further online gaming expansion.
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