Did 2024 Election Results Help or Hurt South Carolina Sports Betting Agenda?

The vast majority of 2024 South Carolina election results are official. Like usual, the implications are profound and bound to impact a variety of different policies. Of course, one in particular stands out to us: The future of South Carolina sports betting.

More specifically, we want to know whether the push to legalize sports betting in South Carolina is helped along or damaged by the results.  

The Palmetto State Remains ‘Ruby Red’ 

There was never a doubt which way South Carolinans would lean during the presidential race. All of the best online sports betting sites in the United States had them favoring Donald Trump. And he ended up receiving the vast majority of votes. 

However, the presidential race is rather immaterial to South Carolina sports betting. This decision gets made at each individual state level. The results for the House of Representatives and Senate are more important. 

To that end, the Republican party maintained their supermajority hold of the House. Six of the available seven seats leaned toward the right, as expected.

The South Carolina Senate results look more interesting. According to WCSC 5 in Charleston, The Palmetto State ended up with a supermajority in the Senate as well. This of course goes in favor of the Republicans. More notably, though, it is apparently the first time in over 100 years that South Carolina has seen a supermajority for the same party in both the House and Senate. 

In a nutshell, this means the Republican party has about as much control in The Palmetto State as ever before. That is where the future of South Carolina sports betting comes into play. Or should we default to a lack of future? Let’s explore the latest developments.

Does Republican Supermajority Hurt South Carolina Sports Betting Chances in 2025?

Plenty of conservative-leaning states have legalized some form of sports wagering. Look no further than sports betting in Tennessee. They legalized online sports betting roughly a half-decade ago. 

Even so, conservative politicians anecdotally seem less likely to embrace gaming expansion. Among the 12 remaining states without legal sports wagering, the vast majority qualify as right-wing-leaning territories. California and Minnesota are the lone exceptions. 

This is not to say the push for sports betting will dissipate. Policymakers have previously shown interest in South Carolina sports betting. The legalization of sports betting in North Carolina may now also factor into their decision-making.

Yet, even when conservative states are seemingly open to legalization, they seemingly run into more opposition during debates. Just look at how many times sports betting in Texas has failed. Or how many times sports betting in Alabama has failed. The process in these states is simply harder.

What’s more, South Carolina’s situation seems even more precarious. They have not tried to debate sports betting nearly as often as Alabama or Texas. Ditto for sports betting in Georgia. No, The Palmetto State is not quite on the level of Utah or Idaho. Those states aren’t even talking about sports wagering. But South Carolina is not exactly at the forefront of the discourse. Nor are they even adjacent to it.

As such, leaning further into right-wing agendas seems as if it may impede any imminent South Carolina sports betting attempts.

Will Sports Betting be on The Palmetto State’s Agenda in 2025?

This remains an interesting question. While South Carolina’s election results are not overwhelmingly surprising, the deepening of conservative roots does lend itself to plenty of uncertainty. 

However, experts still expect another push for sports betting this winter. Consider this excerpt from the Jack O’Toole of the Charleston City Newspaper: 

“South Carolinians will see a renewed major push for legalized online sports betting in January when the General Assembly reconvenes, despite two recent legislative failures and a pair of new studies that highlight gambling’s social costs. The reasons, experts and policymakers say, are simple: money and momentum. ‘The success in terms of the tax revenue generated already in North Carolina will be enticing,’ Stephen Shapiro of the University of South Carolina Department of Sport and Entertainment Management said. ‘I would imagine that we’re going to see more of those types of [sports betting] bills and that there’s a good chance it would be legalized in the next couple years.’”

These sentiments will come as encouraging news to sports betting supporters. And for what it’s worth, we do expect sports gambling to be a discussion. It is virtually unavoidable. South Carolina has at least expressed a willingness to talk about it in the past. And again, having a neighbor like North Carolina launch it within the past 18 months will be a factor.

At the same time, the trajectory of these talks is something to monitor. This is a prediction we would have made before conservatives seized a supermajority in both the House and Senate. From our vantage point, this development increases the likelihood the issue gets tabled altogether. But we’ll know more in a couple months.

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