Maryland Delegate Pamela Queen shared Thursday at a House committee meeting that her new sports betting bill was inspired by a recent 60 Minutes segment on sports betting.
Queen’s proposed Maryland sports betting legislation, House Bill 1087, would ban wagering on in-state college campuses. Queen spoke briefly about the bill at a Thursday meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee, and while there wasn’t a vote on the bill, Queen shared that a 60 Minutes segment from late January sparked the bill’s generation.
“About three weeks ago they had a whole program about sports gambling, especially the issues around college students even using their tuition to bet,” Queen said. “So what is a possible solution to this?”
Queen went on to explain her bill, which would put a geofence around the state’s college campuses.
Possible concerns with the bill 5h3c5n
While Queen’s legislation is well-intentioned, it’s unclear how effective it would be in curtailing college students from developing problem-gambling habits or wagering away their tuition money. Geofencing technology would be used to prohibit students from using legal Maryland betting apps on campuses, but students could theoretically still use offshore apps to wager on campus.
Additionally, Maryland’s legal betting age is 21. It’s likely that many Maryland college students legally wagering live off campus and wager in their apartments or at off-campus establishments like bars and restaurants.
Geofencing campuses won’t prevent college-aged students from wagering. It’s possible that increased responsible gambling education on college campuses could be more effective in developing healthy betting habits in Maryland students than Queen’s bill.
60 Minutes impact 3h6w2z
The 60 Minutes segment from late January has been critiqued by some in the sports betting industry, including Sports Handle’s Jeff Edelstein.
Edelstein felt the segment fell short of properly questioning rules about betting advertising.
“Should there be a discussion about gambling advertising? Yeah, I think so,” Edelstein wrote. “Was this it? Absolutely not.”
American Gaming Association CEO Bill Miller also critiqued the segment recently. Miller appeared in the segment, but only a few snippets of his 90-minute interview with CBS were used.
Despite gripes from some people within the betting industry, Queen’s bill suggests some lawmakers took note of the CBS coverage.
It’s not the first time Maryland sports betting legislation has been driven by national media coverage. Maryland legislators a year ago were influenced by New York Times coverage of colleges and partnerships with betting operators.
As a result, Maryland’s General Assembly ed a bill last session that banned universities in the state from partnering with sportsbooks, if the partnership included a financial incentive for the university driving sportsbook s. None of those partnerships existed in Maryland at the time of the bill’s ing.
