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State of Play’s TL;DR
- Maryland lawmakers failed for the fourth straight year to advance online casino legislation.
- Online casino legalization will now be off the ballot until at least 2027.
Maryland online casino legalization is off the table for now after lawmakers failed to move referendum legislation in time for the ballot.
It is the fourth straight year real-money online casino efforts have fallen short in the state.
Maryland already has retail casinos and online sports betting, but a push to let voters decide on online casinos stalled in the General Assembly.
Maryland’s online casino bills stalled before reaching voters
Sen. Ron Watson reintroduced legislation earlier this year to start the process for legal online casinos in Maryland. The effort included two bills: one to create a constitutional amendment for a voter referendum, and another to set up a regulatory framework for licensed online casinos.
That push did not survive the legislative calendar. One bill was withdrawn, while the other missed the Legislature’s crossover deadline. A companion measure from Del. Vanessa Atterbeary also failed to reach the floor, leaving lawmakers without the approvals needed to place the issue on a statewide ballot.
What the latest setback means for Maryland gambling
The immediate takeaway is simple: Maryland will remain a state with retail casinos and legal online sports betting, but no regulated online casino market.
The debate itself is also familiar. Land-based casino operators in Maryland have testified against past online casino proposals, arguing that legal online casinos could cannibalize retail casino revenue and would not generate enough tax revenue to offset those losses. Those concerns have helped keep the issue from gaining enough momentum in Annapolis.
If Maryland had approved online casino legislation this year, the state would have become the ninth to regulate online gaming.
The issue is not going away. The General Assembly reconvenes in January, and Watson said he plans to keep pursuing legalization in 2027.
Based on reporting by Grant Lucas for SportsLine.
