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As a wind of gambling regulation reform is sweeping through the USA, industry watchers are keeping a close eye on Maryland. The state has a long history of gambling, especially in horse racing. The number of casinos has been increasing, exponentially in recent years, which are mainly operated by six privately owned casinos. And the revenue from gaming, at $150.1 million, has touched an all-time high in March. In the USA, New Jersey has the largest online gambling market and the state benefitting the most from gambling. New Jersey’s gambling industry is worth over $225m per year. The online casinos are generally run by the same companies operating the land-based ones, based in the “Vegas of the East” Atlantic City. However, there are companies who are solely focusing on the casino niche with PartyCasino NJspringing to mind.
So, a question the experts are asking is this: Can Maryland follow New Jersey’s lead here and benefit from online gambling?
It is possible that Maryland could soon decide to join the small amounts of states which offer legalised online gambling and they may see just how much New Jersey have benefitted from this and decide they want in on the action. It is already possible to partake in fantasy sports and place wagers on horse and greyhound racing online within the state, so what could be next?
The casinos within Maryland already benefit from a large customer base that could be tapped into. The Lawmakers in Maryland already stated that they are not opposed to the idea of online gambling but they would prefer to see how it pans out in other states first, before making any steps to legalise it. Seeing the success of online gambling in nearby state New Jersey must be going a long way towards showing them just how successful it can be.
It will be important for the land-based casinos to not feel threatened by the introduction of online gambling and it is vital that if the state is to introduce this they work with the existing casinos. Working together has been a big success in New Jersey and the majority of the online gambling sites available are provided by the same companies as the casinos in Atlantic City. Therefore it would be wise to offer the land-based casinos within Maryland the opportunity to introduce online arms of their business. A potential first step towards this could be with Caesar’s, who owns the Horseshoe Baltimore casino and are also involved with New Jersey’s online gambling industry.
It should not be long before Maryland follows New Jersey and look to benefit from online gambling in the same way, especially as they are really seeing a lot of growth and success within their land-based casino industry. Online gambling seems to be the logical next step for the state, which has seen an expansion in land-based gambling and a 2016 law legalising some home poker games.
Source: baltimorepostexaminer.com
Source: European Gaming Industry News
