Share
Maryland Del. Vanessa E. Atterbeary has proposed legislation that, if enacted, would put the issue of whether to legalize and regulate online casino gaming in the state before voters in November 2026. As the bill is a refiling of a measure that Atterbeary sponsored in 2024, stakeholders in Annapolis will be able to pick up where they left off last year. The 2024 bill passed in the House of Delegates, but came up just short in the Senate.
The work to push the legislation to the finish line will involve garnering support in the Maryland Senate, as well as from the state’s voters, the gambling industry, and Gov. Wes Moore. While that looks like a heavy lift, Atterbeary has allies and some factors are on her side.
HB 17 gets the ball rolling for 2025
Atterbeary pre-filed HB 17 as a copy of 2024’s HB1319, which the Maryland House of Delegates approved. Despite the efforts of Maryland Sen. Ron Watson to garner requisite votes in his chamber, HB1319 died in the Senate.
At the time, Watson told PlayUSA that resistance to online gambling expansion came from The Cordish Companies. Cordish operates the Maryland Live! Casino in Hanover and the company lobbied against HB1319 according to Watson.
Atterbeary’s sponsorship of HB 17 sets the stage for the same activity in 2025. Watson has shared his belief that similar obstacles exist but the need for tax revenue is greater than it was in 2024.
Heightened need for tax revenue could set 2025 apart
Watson discussed the outlook for 2025 with PlayUSA and highlighted that Maryland faces a $2.7 billion budget deficit for 2026. PlayUSA has projected that tax revenue from iGaming could be worth as much as one billion dollars annually at market maturity. Watson stated that expanding gaming in this way could help address that shortfall.
Despite that budget issue, Watson believes that figures like Maryland Senate Pres. Bill Ferguson and Moore are not yet in alignment with the idea of regulating online casinos. Furthermore, contrary lobbying by The Cordish Cos. is likely to persist.
If Atterbeary and Watson can overcome those obstacles, the only remaining hurdle would be Maryland’s registered voters. An agreeable population would hope for a more expedient implementation of online casinos than occurred for online sportsbooks in Maryland.
Online casinos could become available in 2027
While Marylanders voted to legalize online sportsbooks in November 2020, they didn’t actually get access to licensed apps until November 2022. To a degree, that timeline came from regulatory bodies in Maryland needing to create entirely new infrastructure.
With potential iGaming, a lot of those personnel and processes could simply expand their operations. That could lead to a shorter runway for online casino play in Maryland.
Many of the likely players for Maryland’s iGaming market already have a presence in the state via sports wagering. The existence of those relationships further greases the wheels.
For that reason, Marylanders could begin enjoying legal online slots and table games as soon as 2027, if everything goes well. The path to that possibility is now open with Atterbeary’s bill.
