The Maryland legislative body was unable to broaden the scope of online betting.
The familiar adage “enter like a lion, depart like a lamb” accurately depicts the current state of online casinos in Maryland.
Maryland’s online casinos are no longer operational. What’s the future of gambling expansion in the United States for 2024?
While the focus and discussions weren’t confined to March, as early as last autumn, operators, vendors, advisors, legislators, and various other figures in the US gambling sector were actively promoting the prospect of Maryland legalizing online gambling.
On Monday (April 8), these prospects quietly vanished as the General Assembly concluded its session without taking any action on gambling.
Maryland’s gambling expansion failure marks the second significant setback of 2024.
The gambling industry considers this failure to be the second major loss of the legislative session. Ten days prior, the Georgia General Assembly concluded its term without legalizing digital sports betting. This indicates that the two states that were anticipated to have the greatest likelihood of gambling expansion ultimately failed to achieve it.
In Georgia, lawmakers remained deadlocked on how to utilize the revenue, not whether to support the legislation. Negotiations continued until the very last moment of the session.
In Maryland, if lawmakers had considered online gambling on the final day, they would have placed a referendum on the ballot for voters to decide whether they desired it, but there was no established framework.
Legislators made sports wagering legal in a similar manner, returning after citizens approved it in November 2020 to finalize specifics and establish rules.
Maryland will not observe online gambling establishments legalized this year, and perhaps that is not a negative development. Clearly, the state’s decision-makers have much more to talk about and investigate when it comes to how to handle this. For @casino_reports: https://t.co/eyeMn4CL3H [@casino_reports](https://twitter.com/casino_reports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Across the nation, few gambling expansion opportunities endure in state lawmaking bodies. Some are nearly impossible to pass.
Last week, Minnesota’s Racing Commission adopted rules permitting historical horse racing, making things even more complex.
Many view this as a violation of the state’s pledge to tribal gambling exclusivity, a decision that has resulted in several new gambling bills in the legislature explicitly prohibiting HHR.
The HHR discussion has consumed time from gambling expansion discussions. The time lawmakers have spent prohibiting HHR and grappling with the Gaming Commission is time taken away from negotiating an agreement that could authorize statewide online sports wagering.
House sports betting sponsor and Chair of the Commerce Policy and Finance Committee, Zach Stephenson, reacted to the Racing Commission by introducing a bill explicitly prohibiting HHR.
The initial session planned for Monday, the eighth of April, in the Commerce Committee was rescheduled after the introduction, as the committee concluded its session for a full meeting. Stephenson’s suggestion, alongside a legislative proposal submitted by the Senate, will be reviewed by the committee on the ninth of April.
The Minnesota DFL is advocating for special interest organizations to terminate a $400 million Minnesota industry. Why? #vengefulbill
At a recent gathering where the racing commission made its decision, Stephenson stated, “That’s not going to occur. It’s not going to occur. It’s not going to be part of the sports betting agreement. Red line.”
Track representatives described Stephenson’s legislative proposal as “retaliatory.” Aaron Dedessem, vice president of marketing and operations at Running Aces, told KAAL TV: “This is an absurd bill that, if enacted, would cause us to go bankrupt.”
These states are still debating gambling expansion bills.
Here are some other states where some form of gambling expansion has not quite concluded, but has not truly commenced either:
Alabama
In this state that doesn’t even have a lottery, a comprehensive bill that includes a lottery, up to 10 retail casinos, and both physical and digital sports betting is currently being considered by a joint committee.
The difference in tax rates, how to manage the Poarch Creek Indians’ gaming exclusivity and other key matters. The legislative body will conclude its session on May 20th.
**The Pine Tree State**
Two proposals that would grant the state’s four indigenous groups authority over online casinos and exclude the existing two physical gambling establishments – Churchill Downs and Penn Entertainment – both emerged from a committee with a “split report” with less than a week remaining before the end of the legislative session. The legislature is set to adjourn on April 17th.
**The Magnolia State**
Last week, the Senate Gaming Committee convened for less than two minutes in Jackson and passed a complete removal version of a sports betting proposal in order to continue the discussion. Two related bills failed in committee over the weekend. The legislature is scheduled to end its session on May 5th.
**The Show-Me State**
At least one of the numerous sports betting proposals has reached the House’s “informal perfecting calendar,” indicating it could be debated on the floor. However, there is still no agreement in Missouri, with one senator continuing to desire to link legalized gambling to legalized video lottery machines, which has been unsuccessful in the past.
The state’s professional sports teams are employing an indirect strategy, collecting signatures to support a sports betting initiative that would be presented to voters in November.
This could be the most likely opportunity for any gambling expansion still in progress.
The legislative term concludes on May 17th, and professional teams must gather 171,592 genuine signatures by the beginning of May to be included on the ballot.
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