Maryland bill stuck in the Senate
After passing the house with a majority vote last week, a Maryland bill to legalise online casino gambling in the state has been met with several questions and pushbacks in the Senate. Issues were raised about potential gambling harm and the impact on brick-and-mortar casinos.
Delaying the Vote
Following its Senate debut, the bill has been met with opposition. Some of the most vocal opposition voices have come from brick-and-mortar casino workers. They are concerned about how legalising online gambling in the state will impact them moving forward. They also expressed concerns about how this would impact businesses surrounding casinos.
Critics have also raised questions about a rise in gambling addiction and how the passing of the bill will encourage further gambling harm.
However, this has been counteracted. Supports of the bill argued that, like the legalisation of marijuana, this will allow control over iGaming and that players will still find ways to gamble whether the bill passes or not.
Delegate Vanessa Atterbeary, speaking in favour of the bill, said that there is already a lot of gambling going on in the state, noting that “It is illegal. You have folks going on their phones or their computers and doing igaming with somebody in Curaçao or somewhere far away, not here in the state of Maryland. It is incumbent on us to capture that market and regulate it.”
Only Regulated Market in 2024
The industry believes that Maryland is likely to be the only US state to legalise online casinos in 2024. However, these recent pushbacks make predicting when this will happen more difficult.
The General Assembly will adjourn on April 8th, and without the support of the Senate, the negotiations will have to continue between lawmakers.
If the bill is approved, the state has the potential to be one of the biggest markets in the US, with up to 30 online gambling licenses to be made available.
