May 5, 2009

Sports betting vote anticipated this week

Some say there's enough support in the House, but not the Senate

By GINGER GIBSON The News Journal

Sports betting isn't dead. Yet.

But a vote on the bill authorizing it is expected in the House this week, even though some supporters say there aren't enough votes for it to pass the General Assembly after the state's three casinos convinced some lawmakers the bill would drive them out of business.

"I don't believe the governor has the votes," Rep. Greg Lavelle, R-Sharpley, said. "He may have them in the House. I don't think he's even close in the Senate."

Gov. Jack Markell is trying to get lawmakers to pass legislation that would authorize sports betting and increase the state's share of the casinos' slot machine revenues, a bill that has drawn acute opposition from the state's three casinos. The legislation nearly died in committee just before the General Assembly went on a two-week break; the House didn't consider the bill last week -- the first week back.

Markell's spokesman Joe Rogalsky said the governor's office is confident the legislation will have enough support to pass both chambers when it is brought up for a vote. And Markell is hopeful that vote will take place this week.

"There's general agreement that taxpayers should get a better share of the revenue," Rogalsky said. House Speaker Bob Gilligan, D-Sherwood Park, said he's confident the bill will have enough support, saying the administration has been working to make sure lawmakers thoroughly understand the complicated bill. "There are so many variables in one piece of legislation, and that's the problem," Gilligan said. "There's so much information for people to grasp. It's not an easy issue for people to put their hands on."

House Minority Leader Richard Cathcart, R-Middletown, said support for the bill is dwindling because lawmakers are taking the casino owners' concerns seriously. At the House committee hearing where the bill barely gained enough support to be released, Dover Downs Chairman Denis McGlynn told lawmakers that the state's increasing its share of slots revenue, combined with casinos opening in Maryland in a few years, would drive all three of the state's casinos out of business.

Last week, Dover Downs CEO Ed Sutor backed away from McGlynn's claim, saying it's still not clear what the ultimate impact on the legislation will be but stopping short of predicting it would drive Dover Downs out of business. "It will have severe consequences if it passes in its current form," Sutor said. "At this point in time we truly don't know what sports betting is going to do. It will be a benefit, but will it be enough to outweigh the tax increase, we don't know." Sutor agreed that Dover Downs, more than Harrington Raceway or Delaware Park, would likely see the greatest benefit from legalized sports betting, mostly because of the 500-room hotel on the premises.

Dover Downs would also become the only site where spectators could bet on NASCAR trackside, Sutor said, since the track in Las Vegas is outside the city limits. But he doesn't think the lure of betting on NASCAR while at the race will provide much of a boost, since betting on auto racing isn't generally popular nationwide.
 

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