Maryland state senators have granted Redskins owner Daniel Snyder’s request to be included in the state’s prospective sports betting industry.
The Senate bill must clear several more hurdles before it is sent to voters. But until Thursday, the legislation did not include any provision for the Redskins to be able to provide on-site gambling.
The team lobbied aggressively to secure access to a license, an unusual pursuit in a league historically reluctant to embrace sports betting.
Snyder personally pitched state power brokers on his vision to replace FedEx Field in Landover with a smaller stadium that has a retractable dome, and use more than 215 acres he owns around the stadium to build a new corporate headquarters, practice facilities, restaurants, housing and more.
Snyder’s potential access to the license comes with a long string of caveats. The team must agree to invest $500 million in a sports facility and mixed-use development in Prince George’s, submit detailed plans to build the project and strike a deal with local leaders over community benefits.
Like other potential license holders, the team would have to apply for the license and pay a $2.5 million fee.
The team declined to comment on the development.
Maryland’s legislative leaders have vowed to pass sports betting legislation by April, aiming to join scores of other states and the District in chasing profits from the burgeoning legal industry.
“We are trying to bring it out of the darkness,” said Sen. Craig J. Zucker (D-Montgomery). The House version of the legislation has not yet moved out of committee, but its sponsor, Del. Eric D. Ebersole (D-Baltimore County), said he is open to including the Redskins, provided it is done fairly.
“We have to be very careful about where we expand,” Ebersole said.
Legislative analysts estimate the industry would generate about $20 million a year in tax revenue, which would be funneled to help pay for a planned education overhaul. Under Maryland’s constitution, any gambling expansion requires voter approval.
The Redskins, who are obligated to play at FedEx through 2027, have spent years pursing potential stadium sites in the region. Efforts to return the team to its long-ago home at RFK Stadium in the District appear to have stalled, though the team recently said it was “open” to locations in the city, Virginia or Maryland.
On Friday, the Maryland Senate is scheduled to continue debate on an omnibus sports betting bill that would include the Redskins as one of nine prospective gambling license holders.
The other licenses would go to the state’s existing six casinos and to two owners of three of the state’s horse-racing tracks. Each license would also allow holders to operate an online mobile platform. Industry experts say such platforms account for the vast majority of sports betting activity.