Maryland already has legalized sports betting, now they would like to add online casino gaming to the Old Line State. State Senators Nancy King and Ron Watson introduced a bill recently to their fellow lawmakers.
This is the first attempt to bring online casino games to Maryland, and though King and Watson are optimistic about the bill’s chances, it still faces a long, arduous process.
Watson told reporters that if the legislation gets through both the House and Senate then the voters would have to pass it.
“I checked with the Maryland’s Attorney General office and was told that the online casino is an expansion of gaming in Maryland and the Maryland constitution requires any expansion of commercial gambling to get approval from voters,” Watson said. “So after receiving a two-thirds vote in each legislative chamber, the question of authorizing Maryland online casino would need to go in front of voters in the November 2024 general election.”
The legislation would allow the state’s six video lottery operators to provide online games. Hollywood Casino, Rocky Gap Casino Resort, Ocean Downs, Live! Casino and Hotel, Horseshoe Casino, and MGM National Harbor, would be the entities running the online games. They already have been offering sports betting at their locations since 2021 and now have online sportsbooks.
Watson touted the financial benefits of bringing online gaming to Maryland.
“Especially now that folks have started to see the revenue we can get from sports betting, I think we’re past the point of hesitation and we’ve realized that casinos are so valuable to our economy here in Maryland,” Watson said. “If we had to endure another pandemic and sports shut down, we would have zero money generated from our existing casinos and that would be a shame. But if we can put in place online gaming, we’ll have another revenue stream that can fund our aggressive efforts to improve our education system in Maryland.”
The state is seeing substantial money coming in from sports betting. December was the first full month of online sports betting and the handle was $478 million. The state is estimating taxes collected of $75 million for 2023.
