Racetrack provision could derail Md. sports betting proposal

Listen to this article

ANNAPOLIS — A provision to allow racetracks to take wagers on sports events could make legalizing sports betting in Maryland a long shot this year.

Maryland lawmakers are considering legislation that could go on the November ballot if the Supreme Court rules favorably in a New Jersey case. But divisions between the House of Delegates and the Senate over what venues should handle the bets could put the Maryland on the outside as other states already are jockeying for the rail in expectation of a favorable ruling that could strike down a 26-year old federal law.

“My goal in the beginning was to just get it on the ballot,” said Sen. Nancy J. King, D-Montgomery and co-chair of the Joint Committee on Gaming Oversight. “I don’t think there is an appetite in the Senate to put racetracks in there.”

The position appears, for now, to represent a hard line being drawn by the Senate on the issue as the Budget and Taxation Committee holds a hearing on a bill sponsored by Del. Frank S. Turner, D-Howard and King’s counterpart on the gaming oversight committee.

Turner’s bill would authorize the issue of sports betting to be placed on the ballot as early as this November contingent on a ruling from the Supreme Court.

Turner said he expects the high court’s decision in the next 30 days.

The House bill includes a provision that ensures the state’s cut of the revenue would go to education, similar to the so-called “lockbox” provision the legislature is expected to pass on current gaming revenue. But the bill also contains provisions that would allow the state’s six casinos, as well as thoroughbred and harness racing tracks of at least a mile, to be eligible for sports betting licenses.

“The House decided, of course, that they wanted, after discussions, to make sure it’s put at both the racetracks and at the casinos,” Turner said.

Sports betting could provide an extra jolt of money into state coffers at a time when Maryland will soon be looking for extra dollars to fund an expected call to expand state aid to K-12 education.

Gaming industry experts report that betting on sports makes up 2 percent of revenues at Nevada casinos.

In Maryland, that could result in between as little as $13.7 million or as much as $182.1 in additional revenue, according to legislative analysts.

In October, officials from Maryland Live told lawmakers the legalization of sports betting in Maryland could result in as much as $100 million in additional revenue for the state and “hundreds if not thousands of new jobs.”

The addition of sports betting could also draw crowds during big sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the NCAA basketball tournament.

Maryland could be left behind if the House and Senate cannot compromise on a bill before the session ends in less than two weeks.

Turner said there are “as many as 20 states with similar types of bills with the expectation that the Supreme Court will hear the case — which they already have — and rule on it in the next short period of time.”

Supreme Court observers say they expect the court will clear the way for Maryland and other states by striking down the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Betting Act, which banned sports betting in all states except for a handful that had approved sports wagering before the law took effect.

In 2012, sports leagues, including the NFL, NCAA, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NHL, successfully challenged a New Jersey law that would have legalized sports betting in that state.

Maryland, through Gov. Larry Hogan’s counsel, joined an amicus brief in support of New Jersey. Hogan and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie are good friends, and Christie campaigned for Hogan in 2014.

“I think from what I am hearing from those on a higher pay grade than me is we just really want to get it on the ballot and work out the details later,” said King, who added that she wasn’t sure the House wouldn’t agree to working the details on venues out later.

“Maybe not,” King said. “If that’s what happens, we just don’t get it on the ballot.”