Baltimore City - Raffles - Organizations Affiliated With Professional Baseball and Football Teams
Summary
HB717 expands Baltimore City’s raffle law to expressly allow organizations affiliated with a professional National Football League team that plays its home games in Baltimore City to conduct raffles under the same general framework already available to certain organizations affiliated with the city’s Major League Baseball team. The bill authorizes these organizations to sell raffle tickets in connection with games, subject to age-verification, location, timing, permit, and anti-profit-sharing restrictions. It also allows a single permit to cover raffles at multiple games and sets a one-year permit duration for these game-day raffles.
The bill also revises the existing Baltimore City baseball-related raffle provision by removing the scheduled sunset extension language from the 2025 law and tying the new act’s effectiveness to that earlier termination provision. In practical terms, the bill amends the Criminal Law Article to add NFL-affiliated organizations to the special Baltimore City raffle exception, while preserving the general prohibition on unauthorized gaming events and the requirement that proceeds benefit the qualifying organization’s civic, charitable, fraternal, veterans’, or amateur athletics purposes. The bill is narrowly tailored to Baltimore City and to organizations connected to professional sports teams that play there.
Impact
HB717 amends Maryland Criminal Law provisions governing charitable gaming and raffles in Baltimore City, specifically § 13-505.1, to include organizations affiliated with a professional NFL team in the city alongside the existing MLB-related authorization. It also modifies the 2025 chapter law governing the baseball raffle exception by changing the sunset-related language and aligning the new act’s duration with the earlier termination provision. The bill affects only qualifying Baltimore City organizations and the city agency responsible for issuing raffle permits, while leaving the broader state restrictions on gaming events and raffles intact.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been received very favorably. It passed the House and Senate with unanimous recorded votes in the available history, and the committee report was favorable with amendments. The lack of recorded opposition suggests broad bipartisan support for expanding this fundraising tool for Baltimore City sports-affiliated organizations.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive controversy in the available record. The main policy issue is the scope of the raffle exception: whether it should be limited to MLB-affiliated organizations or expanded to include NFL-affiliated organizations as well. The bill also preserves strict controls on ticket sales, including age verification, geographic limits enforced by geofence technology, permit requirements, and limits on personal financial benefit, indicating that any concern would likely center on gaming oversight and the narrowness of the exemption rather than on the concept of raffles itself.