Posted on: December 17, 2024, 10:04h.
Last updated on: December 17, 2024, 10:18h.
South Carolina’s 2025 legislative session starts next month, but one lawmaker there has already proposed a sports betting bill, marking at least the fourth attempt to bring that form of wagering to the state.
Republican Rep. Chris Murphy of Dorchester County recently introduced House Bill 3625 (HB 3625), which is also known as the South Carolina Wagering Act. If approved and signed into law, it would bring a regulated sports betting market to a state long averse to gaming expansion.
One of the interesting elements in Murphy’s legislation is that a minor person — defined as someone younger than 18 years old — wouldn’t meet the minimum age a Palmetto State bettor needs to be to place a sports wager, assuming HB 3625 becomes law. Of the 39 US jurisdictions that currently permit sports betting, only Kentucky, New Hampshire, Washington DC, and Wyoming allow 18-year-olds to bet.
‘Sports wagering’ means the business of accepting wagers on sporting events or portions of sporting events, the individual performance statistics of individuals in sporting events, or a combination of any of the same by any system or method of wagering approved by the director via a mobile sports wagering licensee’s mobile applications and digital platforms that use communications technology to accept wagers,” according to Murphy’s proposal.
The bill would also legalize daily fantasy sports (DFS) in the state.
South Carolina Has an Ominous Sports Betting History
Earlier this year, Murphy sponsored another sports betting bill, but that proposal didn’t make it far. Last year, two sports betting bills, including one aimed at bolstering the state’s horse racing industry, were proposed and both gained momentum in the House, but both died without even being brought up for votes in the Senate.
The same fate befell a sports betting bill in 2022, and Gov. Henry McMaster (R-SC) opposes wagering expansion, indicating it could be a heavy lift in South Carolina next year. Even so, Murphy’s newest legislation has bipartisan support.
There is some belief that next year could be different for sports betting in South Carolina due to the revenue-generating proficiency of that form of wagering in neighboring North Carolina. On the other hand, comparing the two Carolinas in terms of sports betting revenue may not be fair because North Carolina has double the population of its southern neighbor.
Ins and Outs of South Carolina Sports Betting Bill
Murphy’s bill proposes the creation of the South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission as a regulator to oversee sports betting in the state. The legislation also calls for a tax rate of 12.5%, which would be among the most favorable in the country.
If signed into law, HB 3625 would allow for eight licensees to operate in the state, and the biggest competition to the industry would likely be the state lottery, as South Carolina has no casinos.
Based on population, South Carolina is larger than several others that offer mobile betting, including Louisiana, Kentucky, Connecticut, Iowa, and Kansas.
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