Maryland sports betting12 Mar 2021 02:30
Maryland House Speaker Adrienne A. Jones laid down the first marker in a debate over who should receive lucrative licenses for sports gambling, now that voters have agreed the state should bet on the practice to raise money for public schools.
The state government could collect tens of millions of dollars a year from companies taking bets on professional and college games, as well as fantasy sports. And those companies would make hundreds of millions more.
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“This will do well for the people of Maryland,” said Jones, a Baltimore County Democrat. “More important is what it can do for education.”
The state would spend its cut to help pay for an ambitious series of school improvements, including expanded prekindergarten, better pay for teachers and enhanced programs to help high school students get ready for college or jobs.
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In a ballot measure last fall, Marylanders approved legalized sports betting with 67% support. That referendum directed lawmakers to implement a sports betting program. That’s the task of the 2021 General Assembly, and where Jones has a proposal scheduled for a hearing Feb. 25.
The legislation outlines three types of licenses: Licenses for in-person betting at the state’s six casinos and two thoroughbred horse racing tracks; up to five more licenses for in-person betting at other locations; and up to 10 licenses for online betting through websites and mobile apps.
Companies could apply for a license for a physical betting location, an online license or both. A licensing commission would set a timeline for taking applications and awarding licenses.
The state would receive 15% of a company’s proceeds to be used for public education. There are no estimates yet of how much that would bring in for what’s called the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Fund. But a narrower sports betting bill proposed last year estimated that sports betting operators would send about $20 million to the state per year.
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Based on how sports betting has rolled out in other states, nonpartisan analysts estimated last year that a sports betting industry in Maryland would generate revenue equal to about 5% of existing gambling revenue. That works out to about $364 million per year.
While the House of Delegates now has a proposal on paper, the Senate is taking a different tack. The Senate plans to set up a work group that will hold public sessions to hash out different ideas, said Sen. Craig Zucker, who has championed sports betting in that chamber.
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A goal of the House speaker’s bill is to ensure that minority- and women-owned companies have a chance to win at least some of the licenses. It would require companies seeking applications to make a “good-faith effort” to include minority investors — and submit proof of that work
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