Gambling in Maryland

The recent discussion of slot machines at race tracks makes it appropriate to focus on Maryland’s existing gambling enterprise: the lottery. Critics of gambling have done little to see to it that gambling revenues are distributed so as to compensate the jurisdictions in which they are raised, which are also the jurisdictions which suffer any adverse social impacts. In 1984 and 1985 the proceeds of the new Lotto game were distributed to the originating jurisdictions, but the amounts distributed were negligible: $7 million in the first year and $13 million in the second,as against total lottery sales in 1985 of $681 million.

In 2001, total lottery sales were $1,207,434,522. Roughly three-eighths of these sales were net revenue; about 8% of net revenue went to the Stadium Authority and the balance

Posted in: Gambling, News Series