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Every spring, people circle their calendars for March Madness. This is usually bad for Alabama sports betting news, as the state is yet to move forward with legal betting and it’s up in the air when things will get done. Things have only been made worse for the state thanks to the Alabama Crimson Tide cruising in the tournament. Because of that, Alabama is dealing with countless illegal March Madness bets.
In their side of the bracket. Alabama is the No. 4 seed and they’ve been able to post back-to-back wins in the tourney. Because of this, it has set up a monster meeting in the Sweet Sixteen against No. 1 seed North Carolina. The Tar Heels are coming off two strong wins too and their fans are hoping for this team to get back to the Final Four. However, Alabama has an upset in mind and the players and coaches are feeling quite confident ahead of Thursday’s showdown.
“So, we’re playing next Thursday. There’s only going to be 16 left. I think our non-conference schedule got us ready for this. Four teams in the non-conference are all in the Sweet 16 and we lost to all four, but I thought we got better from it. So our defense is getting better as the year goes on,” Coach Nate Oats said after the second-round win. “This might have been our best defensive performance of the year. It’s been our best for a while and Latrell Wrightsell will be able to play with us Thursday.”
As exciting as this run has been for Alabama, all of the people checking the NCAAB betting odds and putting money down on the Tide are doing so illegally. At this point last year, the hope was that things would be flipped for the state by now, but everything remains unclear. It will be interesting to see if legislation can push forward with legal betting in the state later this year, but for now, there isn’t a lot of optimism and illegal activity continues to grow.
Thanks for the memories Spokane!#RollTide | #BlueCollarBasketball pic.twitter.com/XWfaLvKXy6
— Alabama Men’s Basketball (@AlabamaMBB) March 25, 2024
Alabama took a step back for its 2024 betting push
Things have only been made worse here, as Alabama took a step back for its 2024 betting push. Earlier this month, the Alabama Senate passed a new lottery bill, but the major update was that sports betting was not included in the plans. Before, it was believed that legal sports betting would coincide with this new lottery bill, but the Senate decided to move in a different direction here.
That’s disappointing, and now it’s back to the drawing board for legal sports betting. There’s hope that a revision of a sports betting bill can help Alabama move forward, but this latest update is one that has angered a lot of people. If Alabama’s Senate is ready to approve a lottery bill, then what’s the issue with killing two birds with one stone and getting legal sports betting done at the same time?
“You know it’s a bad day legislatively when you can’t get a tabling motion on a single bill, a single matter,” Alabama Senator Greg Albritton told reporters after this news dropped. “It was a pretty tough day. It was an unfriendly bill with at least a semi-hostile crowd, and they were all skeptics of what was happening. It was kind of an interesting endeavor.”
Albritton has been vocal in his desire for legal sports betting, as he knows that the tax revenue would be quite nice for the state. If legal betting was permitted now, we’d surely see a spike in numbers thanks to March Madness betting. With Alabama in the Sweet Sixteen, people all over the state would be rushing to get their wagers in. However, another setback for the project has arrived. No one knows what’s next, but there’s a lot of work to be done for Alabama to somehow get the laws changed.
Alabama is hoping to get things figured out by football season
It goes without saying, but Alabama is hoping to get things figured out by football season. We are still more than five months away from the college football and NFL season arriving, but football fans all over the state are dreaming of the chance to bet on games this fall. Whether or not that happens could not be less clear.
However, no one can deny that things would be electric for Alabama if things get done. This is the first season that Nick Saban isn’t the football coach for the Tide, but Kalen Deboer is the new head coach in charge and he just took the Washington Huskies to the National Championship Game this winter.
This audio clip will definitely put a smile on the faces of Crimson Tide fans!@KalenDeBoer also confirmed that the team has had no issues with snapping during spring practice.
Credit: UA Athletics pic.twitter.com/LO2BBUtFGe
— Ryan C. Fowler (@RyanCFowler) March 22, 2024
There’s always going to be a ton of attention on that football program, which is why betting would skyrocket if things get launched this fall. A lot needs to happen for the laws to change, though. Alabama fans don’t want to go another season without being able to place legal wagers. Unfortunately for them, our guts tell us that they may have to wait until the 2025 season in order to place their bets. It’s a bummer, but things aren’t looking strong.
