Will South Carolina Sports Betting Require A Vote?

With the recent legalization of North Carolina sports betting, many are wondering whether South Carolina sports betting will finally pick up steam ahead of 2025 legislative meetings. And a definitive answer to this inquiry doesn’t seem to exist.

Most people have taken to assuming that any push to legalize sports betting in South Carolina will fall flat. That’s understandable. Efforts have continuously come up short in years past. Support among conservatives, specifically, seems pretty sparse. And since The Palmetto State continues to lean that way during elections, it stands to reason that the legalization of sports wagering will once again face an uphill battle in 2025.

Naturally, the question is: Can anything be done to shift prevailing sentiment in the House of Representatives and Senate on South Carolina sports betting? To figure that out, let’s parse through what happened the last time The Palmetto State “entertained” the subject.

How Would South Carolina Sports Betting Have Worked Under the Previously Proposed Legislation?

State officials last (seriously) broached the sports betting topic in 2023. House Bill 3749 (HB 3749) was the initiative in question. Under this proposal, South Carolina would have allowed up to eight online sportsbooks in the United States to operate inside the market. However, as Gaming Today’s Dan Holmes notes, the initiative sought to approve sports wagering without a constitutional amendment:

“HB 3749, which would have legalized up to eight sports betting apps, languished in the House in 2023. The bill would have allocated $1 million to form a commission for the purpose of regulating ‘interactive sports wagering,’ while also making that activity legal. There was controversy over whether such a bill was constitutional, with critics claiming that an amendment was necessary to allow an expansion of gambling in South Carolina. The bill was submitted to the House Ways and Means Committee in January 2023 but never advanced out of that committee. It was never reconsidered in the following legislative session.”

Attempting to legalize South Carolina sports betting without a constitutional amendment is an interesting approach. It is easier, in theory, since constitutional amendments require voter approval. And that means putting an initiative on a general election ballot.

Still, this tactic tends to only work or be embraced when the scope of legalization is smaller. Consider sports betting in Florida as an example. The Sunshine State authorizes only the Seminole Tribe to offer sports gambling services via a gaming compact negotiated between the governor’s office and tribal officials.

Indeed, some states have legalized sports betting through gaming compacts while licensing multiple parties. In these instances, though, retail-only tribal operators are typically the only setups permitted. In the case of HB 3749, it seems as if backers wanted top online sports betting apps in the USA to have a market presence.

Will Gambling Supporters in The Palmetto State Change Their Approach in 2025?

The answer to this question is a resounding “yes.” But making adjustments to failed measures is standard course. Seeking South Carolina sports betting legalization through a constitutional amendment this time around doesn’t guarantee success.

Sure, opponents latched onto the ambiguous nature of HB 3749 in relation to letter-of-law interpretation of The Palmetto State’s gaming laws. But this isn’t the sole reason the bill faced opposition. In fact, there was another proposal in 2023. House Bill 3395 (HB 3395) also sought to legalize South Carolina sports betting. However, in its case, it did require a constitutional amendment. And guess what? It never gained any traction in the House itself, let alone the Senate.

This more than anything else remains the biggest obstacle to the legalization of sports betting in South Carolina: overarching support.

Most officials in The Palmetto State don’t seem swayed by sports betting revenue potential. They instead consider the industry a drain on resources and morality. As House Majority Leader David Hiott, a Republican, told South Carolina Public Radio earlier this year: “I just don’t think we need to supply that temptation in the state of South Carolina.”

Whether you agree with Hiott is immaterial. His stance seems to mirror the majority opinion among South Carolina lawmakers.

Does This Mean South Carolina Sports Betting will Fail Again in 2025?

We won’t pretend to have a crystal ball set before us. If we had to guess, though, any push to green light South Carolina sports betting in 2025 will yet again flop. It just doesn’t seem like there’s enough interest or flexibility among key stakeholders to believe anything else.

Granted, two factors could dramatically alter this outlook.

First and foremost, the performance of legal North Carolina sports betting should matter a great deal. If South Carolina policy makers see The Tar Heel State raking in revenue hand over first and also have data on how many of The Palmetto State’s residents are betting on sports in N.C., then we could absolutely see the conversation changing.

Then again, North Carolina sports betting just launched in March 2024. It may take longer for South Carolina to accumulate the necessary data on their neighbor’s performance.

Failing that, South Carolina sports betting hopefuls can cross their fingers for changes in leadership during November 2024 elections. If officials more open to sports betting are put in office, it could wind up fast-tracking the discussion.

Beyond that, though, we’d be pretty surprised if South Carolina sports betting became legal in 2025. Heck, it seems more likely that the House and Senate ignore debating it altogether.

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