Representatives of Maryland’s casino industry delivered a message to the Joint Committee on Gaming Oversight yesterday: authorize sports betting, and move on this now.
The federal Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), passed in 1992, prohibits sports betting in most states, including Maryland. However, a number of states have considered legislation recently to allow or at least evaluate sports betting, including include Connecticut, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and West Virginia. Last session in Maryland, Delegate Jason Buckel sponsored House Bill 989, Gaming – Wagering on Sporting Events – Study and Implementation, which would have created the Task Force to Study the Implementation of Sports Gaming, and under certain terms, allowed the State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission (SLGCC) to issue sports gaming licenses.
The State of New Jersey actually passed laws in 2012 and 2014 meant to allow sports betting at state casinos and racetracks, and over the summer, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law a bill that imposes a 10.5 percent tax on winnings for companies that operate daily fantasy sports leagues. New Jersey’s activities triggered litigation that has arrived before the Supreme Court. Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will hear the New Jersey case challenging the constitutionality of preempting most states from authorizing sports betting. It is expected to hear the case next spring.
But waiting until the Supreme Court makes a decision may be too late, argues the Maryland gaming industry. The Baltimore Sun reports:
[Joe] Weinberg, chief executive of Cordish Global Gaming, urged members of the Joint Committee on Gaming Oversight to take up the issue in 2018 so that a constitutional amendment may be put on next year’s general election ballot. …Weinberg warned that Maryland’s competitors for casino tax dollars already are lining up to change their laws in case the Supreme Court rules on a pending case to allow more states to offer sports betting.
“If we wait for 100 percent clarity on federal law, we will be two to three years behind the surrounding states,” he said.
The bottom line: if authorized, sports betting could materially affect the State’s – and possibly counties’ – bottom lines. All would welcome the additional tax revenue, we bet.
