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Legal sports betting in Maryland took a massive step forward in March when the House officially passed a bill along to the state Senate for final approval. We will continue to track what this means for MD residents eagerly awaiting legal sports betting options.
The proposed bill is relatively straight forward. It allows for in-person betting at established casinos and racetracks, as well as at stadiums for the Ravens, Orioles, and Washington Football Team. Additionally, the bill allows for 10 more in-person sportsbook licenses, and 15 total online and mobile sportsbook licenses. The proposed tax rate in this bill is set to 15%, with no information provided on the annual license fee.
It will be great news for Maryland sports bettors if this is how the final bill shakes out. While the 15% tax rate is on the higher side of current US sports betting revenue tax rates, so long as the annual licensing fee is not outrageous, it should not be a deterrent for sportsbooks looking to enter the market.
Obviously the multi-million dollar question here is when do residents of the state of Maryland actually have access to legal online sports betting and what does the final bill look like. Our team can make an educated guess, but relying on state government, in the middle of a pandemic, to pass the necessary legislation makes it a near-impossible task.
However, we saw the state of Michigan move a bill in under three months in the absolute heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. It can be done, and MD sports bettors will be hoping something happens sooner rather than later.
The one thing we can certainly take away from the Maryland House vote is that legalizing sports betting is overwhelmingly popular amongst state legislators. The House Bill was passed with a 130-9 vote.
Why wouldn't state legislators be eager to speed up the process of legal sports betting? The estimated tax revenue, assuming this bill is passed prior to the start of the 2021 football season, exceeds $4 million. The majority of that money would go directly to the MD public school system.
Clearly there is plenty of momentum to get legal online sports betting to MD by the end of 2021, with most experts targeting the second-half of the year as the start date. If that is the case, expect to see sportsbooks such as FanDuel and BetMGM live prior to the start of the Baltimore Ravens 2021 campaign!
