Maryland Won’t See Sports Betting This Year

Although the officials from Maryland wanted to speed up the process of legalizing sports betting, it looks like there is no chance of introducing sports wagering any time soon.

The lawmakers introduced a bill named, House Bill 1132, back in February, but unfortunately, it was announced last week that this bill won’t be considered before the end of the legislative season…

…which definitely won’t happen this year.

Officially No Chance in 2019

President of the Maryland State Senate said on Wednesday that the General Assembly definitely won’t be going through sports betting bills in 2019.

“Sports betting is going to have to wait until next year,” the president of the Maryland Senate, Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., said in an official announcement.

So, it looks like the gamblers from Maryland will have to wait two years, at least, before being able to legally place their wagers on sporting events.

Lawmakers Tried to Push Sports Betting in 2018

Senator Miller, together with Larry Hogan, the Governor of Maryland…

….and House Speaker, Michael E. Busch, wanted to speed up the process of legalizing sports wagering in 2018.

They wanted to launch legal sports betting because they knew that the neighboring states would do the same. The officials believed that Maryland should jump on the sports gambling bandwagon in order to compete with other states from the Mid-Atlantic area. But, it will remain as an idea for now.

Last Hearing

This past Wednesday, the Senate Committee had a hearing on Budget and Taxation, where they talked about sports betting as well.

“This will be a brief hearing, I think, because this bill is a constitutional amendment and it is my understanding that there will be no more constitutional amendments ed this year. So this is kind of a preview of what you’ll see next year,” Senator, Chris West, explained before hearing on Wednesday.

Maryland Attorney, General Brian K. Frosh, said that he believes sports betting should only be allowed via constitutional amendment.

What does that mean? Well, it means that only Maryland voters have the complete right to decide if they want legal sports betting in the state. But, since there are no scheduled elections for 2019, legal sports betting won’t be considered in Maryland any time soon.

Legal Sports Betting in the USA

The US Supreme Court overturned the sports betting ban back in May of 2018, and many states decided to begin legalizing.

Among the first to do so were New Jersey, which officials were actually very vocal during the overturning of Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA)…

…and Delaware, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, West Virginia and the District of Columbia followed the way.

Since DC was one of Maryland’s neighboring states that introduced legal sports betting recently, the wagers from this state are very excited to be finally able to place their bets somewhere nearby.

Source:

“Maryland won’t see sports gambling this year”, Erik Gibbs, calvinayre.com, March 15, 2019.