Maryland Considers Legalizing Online Casinos
Maryland legislators are renewing previous efforts to expand the state's betting market to include online video gaming by introducing 2 brand-new proposals. The bills would legalize online casino-style games and web bingo, however the ultimate choice will be delegated citizens.
- Maryland SB 761 and SB 885 set a 2026 referendum with a web gaming regulative framework.
- The Maryland structure focuses licensing on existing gambling establishments and authorized partners, not broad brand-new entrants.
- A survey from October 2025 discovers that 71% of Maryland citizens oppose the legalization of iGaming.
The plan integrates a constitutional referendum with a different costs laying out how such activity would be licensed, monitored, and managed, while also establishing customer defense rules. Lawmakers backing the proposal have actually highlighted public education financing as a primary destination for the state's share of online video gaming revenue.
The structure relies on two Senate steps that are meant to work together. Senate Bill 761 represents the constitutional element that would put a referendum before citizens throughout the November 2026 basic election.
The ballot concern would ask whether Maryland must permit web gaming for specific purposes, including assistance for education funding.
Should citizens decline the proposal, the expansion of online gambling would not proceed, and neither step would work.
The companion legislation, Senate Bill 885, explains the regulatory and operational system that would apply if the referendum succeeds. It outlines licensing procedures and oversight responsibilities for online gambling establishment video gaming and online bingo under the Maryland State Lottery and Gaming Control Commission.
The costs likewise details eligibility standards, compliance requirements, and securities to safeguard customers getting involved in the market.
The structure mostly shows Maryland's existing casino structure. Participation would normally be limited to operators that currently run casinos in the state, in addition to authorized partners dealing with those license holders.
However, the costs' futures stay unsure. A poll by Lake Research Partners for the National Association Against iGaming, conducted in October 2025, found that 71% of Maryland citizens would oppose the legalization of online gambling establishments.
Virginia advances iGaming costs with modified language
While Maryland legislators assess whether to put iGaming before citizens, throughout the border, Virginia lawmakers continue to advance their own proposition. The Virginia House General Laws Committee voted 15-4 to advance Senate Bill 118 after adopting alternative language and sending out the measure to the Appropriations Committee.
The revised version got rid of the bill's earlier application date of July 1, 2027, and introduced a requirement that the legislation should be reenacted throughout the 2027 General Assembly session before it can work.
If the bill receives that second approval, the Virginia Lottery Board would begin accepting notices of intent from operators starting July 1, 2027. The board would also be required to complete regulatory rulemaking by Jan. 1, 2028, creating a timeline that might enable online gambling establishment operations to launch in 2028.
The upgraded bill also requires operators to submit a separate notice of intent for each web video gaming platform and makes labor peace contracts a condition for licensing approval. The substitute likewise revised the distribution of tax earnings by directing 5% to the Problem Gambling Treatment and Support Fund and allocating 6% to a recently created Internet Lottery Fund through Jan.
.
