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Maryland residents will get to decide on congressional redistricting in the upcoming referendum scheduled for November. However, they will miss the opportunity to decide on the expansion of online gaming after a push to legalize iGaming stalled yet again during the 2026 legislative session. As such, residents still cannot play online casino games for real money anywhere in the state, in contrast to neighboring states like Mississippi.
Obstacles to online gaming expansion
Gambling has been legal in Maryland for over two decades. The state legalized slot machines at casinos in 2008 and followed up with table games in 2012. Sports betting came almost a decade later in December 2021, first through retail sportsbooks and later through online and mobile wagering a few months later.
Maryland is once again looking to expand its gaming industry, this time eyeing online casino gaming. However, the push is facing various obstacles, and the bills that would put the question on the ballot have been stuck in committees for two consecutive legislative sessions.
One of the biggest obstacles is opposition by retail, brick-and-mortar casino operators. Cordish Companies, which operates Live! Casino, and PENN Entertainment, which operates Hollywood Casino, have been vocal against the push to legalize iGaming, arguing that it will hurt the revenue flow to retail casinos without generating enough new tax income to offset it.
Besides retail casino operators, many residents and lawmakers are also opposed to the expansion. Notably, a 2025 poll shows that about 71% of residents are opposed to online casino gambling. Moreover, many lawmakers are wary of the issue, and a severe lack of support is the reason why the move has failed repeatedly.
However, while online casino gaming is illegal in Maryland, there’s no enforcement mechanism against it – just a gap in the law. As such, many residents still engage in the activity via offshore and gray-market sites. To this end, it is estimated that residents spend about $7 billion a year on these unregulated, untaxed platforms. Whether or not the figure is correct, the point is that Maryland residents are already playing casino games online.
The map matters more than the ballot fight
Redistricting determines representation. However, a gambling map is more important than a congressional map, as it has a monetary value attached to it. It determines access to gambling sites, which entails spending money, a portion of which goes to the state coffers. Notably, the 2026 State of the States Report by the American Gaming Association reveals that state commercial revenue keeps growing year over year, with iGaming accounting for a considerable chunk of the growth.
However, the redistricting question gets more attention than the iGaming question because it is adversarial, court-driven, and tied to an election calendar. In contrast, gambling law reform is slower and quieter, entailing competing industry lobbyists, budget projections that change every session, and committee hearings.
Notably, 30 states now offer different forms of legal online sports betting. However, fewer than 19 states have legalized online casino gaming, including Maryland. iGaming legislation didn’t move past the committee hearings during the 2026 legislative session, and it may remain stalled at this level next year as well. Since the issue must be decided in a referendum, Marylanders may not get to vote on expanding online casino gaming until the 2028 midterms.
What did Mississippi do differently?
While Maryland adopted a retail sportsbook model, Mississippi took a different route and built its gambling industry on the foundation of the riverboat gaming rules, established way back in 1990. Legal sports betting was legal for years and remained tethered to brick-and-mortar casinos. However, online casino gaming came to be as a result of interaction between offshore operators, state regulators, and banking rails. As a result, residents in Mississippi have access to regulated, real-money online casinos, while residents in Maryland don’t.
