Baltimore City - Raffles - Organizations Affiliated With a Professional Major League Baseball Team
SB341 authorizes certain Baltimore City organizations affiliated with a professional major league baseball team that plays its home games in Baltimore City to conduct raffles under a new, separate set of rules. To qualify, an organization must be based in Baltimore City and spend a majority of its funds there for fraternal, civic, veterans’, amateur athletic, or charitable purposes. Before holding raffles, the organization must obtain a written permit from a city-designated agency, and the permit is nontransferable and limited to being managed and operated by members of the organization.
The bill creates detailed operating rules for these baseball-related raffles. It allows a single permit to cover raffles at multiple games during the calendar year, with no limit on the number of raffles conducted in connection with those games. Ticket sales must use age-verification measures to ensure buyers are at least 18, and sales and receipt may occur in person or electronically only within a defined Baltimore City geofence. Sales are limited to the window from one hour before game time through the seventh inning, and the bill also permits ticket purchases by credit card subject to a daily $50 cap and one credit transaction per day. The bill expressly exempts these raffles from the general prohibition on accepting credit as payment, within those limits.
In state law, SB341 amends Criminal Law provisions governing gaming events and raffles, adds a new section specifically for these baseball-affiliated raffles, and updates the penalty section to cover violations of the new rules. It also creates a temporary, local exception to the general raffle framework for Baltimore City and for organizations tied to a professional major league baseball team. The act is time-limited and scheduled to expire automatically after a short period unless extended by the General Assembly.
The overall sentiment reflected in the voting history was strongly favorable and noncontroversial: the bill passed both chambers unanimously, with no recorded opposition. There were no committee transcript snippets provided, so no formal debate or objections are reflected in the available record. The unanimous votes suggest broad support for the measure as a targeted Baltimore City authorization tied to game-day fundraising.
The main points of contention embedded in the bill itself are regulatory rather than political. The law tightly controls who may conduct the raffles, where and when tickets may be sold, how age verification must work, and how electronic sales must be geofenced. The credit-card allowance is also narrowly limited, indicating an effort to balance fundraising flexibility with consumer-protection and anti-gambling safeguards.
SB341 amends Maryland’s Criminal Law subtitle on gaming events and raffles by carving out a new Baltimore City-specific exception for organizations affiliated with a professional major league baseball team that plays home games in Baltimore City. It adds a new section authorizing these organizations to conduct raffles under permit from a city-designated agency, while also modifying existing raffle restrictions so the new section is exempt from the general 12-raffle annual limit and from the usual ban on accepting credit, subject to a $50 daily cap and one credit transaction per day. The bill also expands the criminal penalty provision to cover violations of the new section and creates a temporary authorization that sunsets automatically.
The available voting record shows unanimous support in both chambers, with 47-0 and 137-0 votes on third reading and no recorded dissent. No committee transcripts were provided, so there is no evidence of substantive opposition or divided testimony in the materials supplied. Overall, the bill appears to have been viewed as a narrow, practical authorization for a Baltimore City fundraising activity tied to professional baseball games.
There is little visible controversy in the legislative record provided, but the bill’s detailed restrictions show the likely policy concerns it was designed to address: underage participation, electronic sales outside Baltimore City, and unrestricted credit-card use. The statute responds by requiring age verification, geofencing, time-and-place limits, and a credit limit. Any potential contention would likely center on gambling regulation, local control, and whether the special treatment for organizations affiliated with a major league baseball team should be extended beyond this narrow, temporary exception.