Maryland recently joined the fight for state legislative freedom in regards to sports betting. State legislators proposed a bill last week that would clear the way for sports betting in Maryland under one condition—that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA, is repealed. If PASPA is somehow repealed or at the very least rewritten to include some form of sports betting, this bill would propose a way for the state to legalize and regulate sports betting in Maryland.
For starters, PASPA was passed back in 1992 and banned 46 states from hosting sports betting within their borders. The bill was passed to prevent the widespread legalization of sports betting in the US. At the time, only four states had legalized sports betting—Montana, Delaware, Oregon and Nevada—and these states were exempted from PASPA’s ruling.
In the 15 years since its passing, several states have expressed their dissatisfaction PASPA but have been unable to do really make any significant changes. The most notable example is New Jersey. Governor Chris Christie has been a sports betting advocate for some time now and sees legalized sports betting as a way to fund the state. He and his fellow legislators have tried to pass a bill into law that would allow for sports betting, but that bill was quickly shot down by the commissioners of the major American sports leagues. After several appeals, New Jersey is currently awaiting to hear whether the Supreme Court will take their case—a presumable last ditch effort.
With HB 0989 Maryland has joined New Jersey in their efforts to legalize sports betting. While New Jersey opted for trying to go around PASPA, Maryland is banking on it being repealed. If passed, the bill would deal with “establishing the task force to study the implementation of sports betting in the state to monitor federal law, study sports gaming in other states, and make recommendations regarding implementation of sports gaming in the state; authorizing, pursuant to specified regulations, the holders of a sports gaming license to accept wagers on sporting events; authorizing a video lottery operator or horse racing licensee to apply for a sports gaming license to accept wagers from specified individuals on specified sporting events, etc.” (Gaming—Wagering on Sporting Events—Study and Implementation, Maryland HB0989).
So, according to the language, this bill would take some time to implement. Not only would this appointed ‘task force’ have to research other states with sports betting, monitor PASPA and suggest regulations, but proper license holders would still have to apply for a sports gaming license in order to legally host sports betting—and who knows what that process would entail. Even if the bill made its way through legislation, it would then have to pass via a voter referendum.
The interest is there from a business standpoint. Maryland has several large casinos and racetracks that would all want a piece of the sports betting action. Caesars Entertainment, owner of Horseshoe Casino Baltimore, was quoted by the Baltimore Sun in saying, “We support legal, regulated sports betting, which today is permitted in different forms in Nevada, Delaware, Oregon and Montana. We are interested in working with the government to achieve this worthwhile goal.” That goal being the legalization of sports betting in Maryland.
PASPA is celebrating it’s 25th anniversary this year and many feel that it’s time for it to be reexamined. With interest from the local casinos, legislators, fans and the estimated millions of dollars in revenue sports betting could reign in, government officials might finally be ready to make it happen. For now, Maryland joins the line of other states betting on a hopeful chance.