Maryland House approves sports betting bill

The Maryland House of Delegates on Thursday approved a bill that would authorize online sports betting and allow casinos, professional stadiums and horse racing tracks to offer retail sports betting.

The House passed the proposal by a 130-9 vote. The Senate will now take up the bill for debate, where it is likely to receive large support.

The House bill allocates 15 stand-alone digital licenses for online and mobile sports betting apps, grants retail licenses for the state’s casinos and horse racing tracks and offers another 10 in-person licenses for non-casino or racing facilities.

All told up to 22 locations could offer retail sports wagering including stadiums belonging to the Baltimore Ravens and Washington Football Team of the NFL and the MLB’s Baltimore Orioles.

Revenue would be taxed at 15% on the first $5m, while revenue over $5m would see a 17.5% tax.

Maryland voters already approved sports betting last November by a two-thirds majority.

If approved by the senate, Maryland would become just the fourth jurisdiction to allow in-stadium sportsbooks, joining Washington D.C. and Illinois.

Maryland sports bettors who wish to wager legally must currently travel to the nation’s capital or neighboring Virginia to place their bets.

Maryland expects to earn approximately $15m to $19m annually from regulated sports betting.

Ezra Amacher

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