Did North Carolina Inspire Its Neighbor To Legalize Betting?

North and South Carolina are often confused for one another, but it’s not fair to either. Both states have some differences, including their stance on legal sports betting. North has it, South doesn’t (not yet, at least).

But that could be changing. It’s a new year, and once again, South Carolina betting is on the table. Lawmakers are talking about it, and perhaps that stems from the overwhelming success the North has seen from the legalized industry.

That’s what we’re talking about today. Keep on reading, and we’ll bring you up to speed on the situation.

North Carolina Is Having A Monster Run In Betting

Every time the North Carolina State Lottery Commission puts out official revenue numbers, we’re impressed more and more. The state continually finds ways to one-up itself.

Take the most recent data from January. The state’s eight sports betting apps combined for $686.9 million in wagers during the month. That’s up 6.1 percent year over year and another 3.1 percent bump from December. This was boosted by the Carolina Panthers returning to the playoffs for the first time in a long time during this stretch.

That’s just total bets, though. In terms of money kept (after paying out winners), the state came away with $80.3 million in gross revenue. Here again, that’s a 7.8 percent increase compared to last January, though it dipped slightly, about 1.5 percent, from December’s total. Of all this money, $14.5 million goes to the state for tax purposes.

Zoom out, and the bigger picture looks even stronger. Since the fiscal year began in July, North Carolinians have wagered $4.5 billion. That’s translated into $85.8 million in tax revenue so far. Not bad for a market that’s still relatively new (launched only in 2024) and clearly still growing into itself.

They’re doing this while having a low-end tax rate on North Carolina sports betting. North Carolina taxes revenues at a meager 18 percent. In the past, there have been proposals to double this, putting it more in line with other states. That’s probably a matter of when, not if, which would obviously shoot up the state’s keep off betting.

The North is doing all this in plain view of the South. That has to have an effect, don’t ya think? We do, and here’s some evidence in the next section.

South Carolina Sports Betting Gets Some Momentum

Is this the year it finally happens for South Carolina? Legalization has been discussed at length before, but here we are again, and once again, there’s a glimmer of hope that this time will be different.

Here’s the latest: a Senate Labor, Commerce, and Industry subcommittee held a hearing on S 444 — a legalization bill that’s been sitting around since last year. They talked it through during a mid-February morning, but it was just that: a discussion. Not a vote or anything of that sort.

There was a vote, but not on what you’re thinking. It was a 3-2 vote to amend the bill so the PGA Tour and NASCAR could be licensed if sports betting becomes legal. That feels like a gimme since South Carolina hosts its fair share of events and races for both sports.

It’s not much, but it’s at least some progress. And thankfully, plenty of time remains. South Carolina doesn’t have a crossover deadline, and the legislative session wraps up on May 7. That gives lawmakers some runway, but it doesn’t guarantee anything passing in 2026. If you’ve followed gambling bills in this state before, you know momentum can stall fast.

As for what S 444 actually does? It would legalize statewide online sports betting and creates a brand-new South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission to regulate it all. The bill calls for eight licenses and requires operators to already be licensed in at least five other states. That means the usual suspects — BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, etc. — will be able to meet the requirements easily. Betting age would also be set at 18, not 21.

Financially, sportsbooks would pay a $100,000 application fee and a $1 million license fee. The state would take a 12.5% cut of revenue — that feels criminally low, but that’s what it is. Operators could deduct promotional spending and federal taxes before paying that tax, and they’d be allowed to carry losses forward month to month. In other words, South Carolina is not getting greedy with how it would tax it.

More Taxes Are The Biggest Incentive

Even if South Carolina’s proposal is being modest with taxes, don’t get it twisted, raising money IS the incentive to legalize. Matter of fact, it’s probably the only incentive.

A conservative estimate for how much the state could make off betting is $50 million to $60 million per year. That number comes from Trevor Hayes, who is representing Caesars. That would go toward filling the state’s budget deficit. Here’s what Hates said:

“We’re not going to solve every budget problem, but this is meaningful revenue that can address smaller needs and keep money from leaving the state.”

We’ll see what happens, but again, there’s some momentum at least. Check back with us because we’ll be covering the situation from now til May when the legislative session ends.