Chris Boline
We are starting to see plenty of movement around the USA when it comes to legal wagers, but things are yet to develop any momentum for Alabama sports betting in the near future. This is disappointing to see, especially with nearby areas working tirelessly to get things done. Now, the new South Carolina sports betting bill puts massive pressure on Alabama to try and catch up, but it doesn’t look like any positive news will be on the way soon.
As you might have been able to guess, this has people in Alabama quite disappointed, as legal sports betting is something they’ve been dreaming of for years. Not only are legislators in Alabama not getting to work on this at all, but people in the state are now seeing all kinds of updates in Georgia, Oklahoma and now South Carolina. Why in the world is nothing going down in Alabama? That’s what everyone wants to know and the South Carolina news only adds to the frustration.
“By adding Section 16 so as to provide that the General Assembly by law, in specified areas of the state, may provide for the conduct of gambling and gaming on which bets are made to include pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, sports betting on professional sports, casino activities, such as card and dice games where the skill of the player is involved in the outcome and games of chance with the use of electronic devices or gaming tables,” SC legislators wrote as part of their plan.
South Carolina is looking to move quickly and get this bill approved, though there’s time to wait as it has only been pre-filed. However, the fact that these steps have already been taken surely has opened up even more eyes in Alabama. As we’ve said time and time again, Alabama is wasting time and the proponents for sports betting are hoping that something can get done soon. No one knows if/when it will.
NEW: A South Carolina lawmaker has proposed a constitutional amendment to legalize sports betting, casino gambling and pari-mutuel betting on horse races. Ballot question for voters.
The sponsor is J. Todd Rutherford, the House minority leader.
HJR 3095: https://t.co/BY2QFXHlja pic.twitter.com/jEjHmfgANx
— Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) December 9, 2022
Alabama has tried and failed before with sports betting
To add even more pain to all of this is that Alabama has tried and failed before with sports betting – this is nothing new for the people of the state. People remain furious from what happened last March, when a bill was presented to members of the senate and countless folks were hoping that it would be approved. Had it gone approved, then people would have had the chance to vote it into action.
However, we didn’t even reach that point for the vote, as the bill had 19 votes for, and 13 against. With there needing to be at least 21 votes for the bill, it failed, and Alabama was back to square one for trying to move forward with the legalization. People were furious, as several politicians had made it seem like it was a lock that the bill would be given the green light and people would make the decision for themselves.
That turned out to not be the case and now everyone is still waiting for a new bill to be presented for approval. No one knows when that will happen and the lack of urgency has been rough to see. Shouldn’t officials be cooking up something else in a move that would no question bring in plenty of revenue for the state? In a new research study over in Georgia, it was determined that around $600 million would be brought in for GA if sports betting were made legal.
That’s a massive chunk of money and it’d obviously be huge for Georgia. With that said, you’d have to figure that Alabama would also have a big-time financial impact too if sports betting made its way over. The fact that a lot of people in important positions in Alabama don’t see this makes no sense. It’s on the long list of reasons as to why people are so confused that nothing has been able to get done.
Football betting would be king in Alabama for sure
If something ever gets done, football betting would be king in Alabama for sure, no one is going to argue with that. Despite not making the College Football Playoff this season, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Nick Saban received a ton of national attention and that’s never going to change. Alabama fans would love to be able to check out the NCAAF betting odds and lay some money down on their team.
Come next year, Alabama figures to be in the CFP hunt. They have a ton of amazing talent on their way back next season, which is why the team’s supporters would be fired up to be able to look at those odds we discussed and bet on them. For now, though, nothing is planned.
Not only with college football, though, but the NFL betting odds would also be checked out consistently. That’s how big football is in the south – even with no pro team, people in Alabama are locked in on the NFL. It’s time for the lawmakers to get together and try to get a bill in motion. It’s being done in South Carolina and other states. Why not Alabama? This must change.
All-Americans – @AP #RollTide pic.twitter.com/yzaruJgDlK
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) December 12, 2022
