Late last year, executives of a Maryland-based casino developer did something curious: They made donations to lawmakers in North Carolina, a state where commercial casinos are not legal.
The contributions — ranging from $2,500 to the maximum allowable $5,600 — weren’t enormous sums in the grand scheme of the company, the gaming industry or big-money politics. But they were eye-catching because they came long before state lawmakers had publicly uttered word one of a possible proposal to legalize casinos outside of tribal lands.
The offerings were among the first financial bets on a major expansion of legalized gambling in the state, beyond an eventually successful effort to allow sports betting on mobile devices.
