{"id":527,"date":"2026-02-19T14:52:45","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T15:52:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/?p=527"},"modified":"2026-03-25T13:25:59","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T13:25:59","slug":"sports-betting-fight-renews-in-south-carolina-but-effort-faces-long-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/19\/sports-betting-fight-renews-in-south-carolina-but-effort-faces-long-odds\/","title":{"rendered":"Sports Betting Fight Renews in South Carolina, But Effort Faces Long Odds"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul>\n<li><strong>Sports betting is once again being reviewed in South Carolina<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>South Carolina is one of only 11 states without legal sports gambling<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Gov. McMaster remains opposed to new forms of gambling<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">For yet another legislative <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-carolina-sports-betting-bill-sets-minimum-age-at-18\/\">year<\/a>, the topic of sports betting is being discussed in the South Carolina General Assembly.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_377327\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-377327\" data-style=\"width: 858px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-post-thumbnail-858xAUTO wp-image-377327 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"South Carolina sports betting McMaster\" width=\"858\" height=\"572\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/DSC00094-858x572-1.jpg\"><figcaption>South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster stands in the way of sports betting discussions in the Columbia State House. South Carolina is one of only 11 states that do not have legal sports gambling. McMaster is opposed to gambling expansion. (Image: Governor&#8217;s Office Photo Archive)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Senate Bill 444, introduced by Sens. Tom Davis (R-Beaufort) and Matt Leber (R-Charleston) in 2025, would authorize online sports betting. The South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission would be formed to regulate the expanded gambling.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The carried-over sports betting bill was considered on Wednesday by the Senate Labor, Commerce, and Industry Committee, but the legislation was not put to a vote.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Each online sportsbook license, should SB444 become law, would cost $1 million. Renewals would be annually at $1 million. The sports betting bill proposes that the state take 12.5% of the gross revenue generated by the online sportsbooks.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Sports Betting Outlier<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Since May 2018, when the United States Supreme Court said a federal law cannot allow one state &#8212; Nevada &#8212; to conduct a form of gambling while outlawing it everywhere else, 39 states and Washington, DC, have passed laws authorizing sports betting. South Carolina is one of the 11 states that haven&#8217;t.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Neighboring North Carolina has legal sports gambling, and some state lawmakers in the Palmetto State say it&#8217;s time to stop funding the North Carolina government.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Last year, North Carolina made $129 million off of these online sports bets. South Carolinians, hundreds of thousands of them, are going across the North Carolina border to place bets,&#8221; Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R-Spartanburg) said during the committee hearing, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wyff4.com\/article\/sports-betting-south-carolina-2026-update\/70412311\"><i>WYFF News<\/i><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">North Carolina uses its sports betting tax proceeds to attract major events, foster job growth, and entice investment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">South Carolina is considerably smaller than North Carolina, with about half the population. Still, proponents of sports betting think such gambling could generate $50 million to $60 million a year for the state.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">&#8220;That could provide opportunities for additional tax relief and provide a first responder pay increase. There&#8217;s a whole range of things,&#8221; Kimbrell added.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b>Governor Opposition<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\"><b>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Along with powerful opposition from faith leaders, South Carolina&#8217;s sports betting bill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/south-carolina-gov-henry-mcmaster-is-blocking-casino-legislation\/\">faces a possible veto<\/a> from Gov. Henry McMaster (R).<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"main-blockquote\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">I&#8217;ve always opposed gambling,&#8221; McMaster said recently.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">McMaster has publicly voiced his hostility to efforts in Columbia to bring a commercial casino to the state. The governor, term-limited, is in his final year in office.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Kimbrell has declared his candidacy to succeed McMaster. Recent polling, however, suggests he&#8217;s only currently supported by about 4% of the electorate.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"callout\">\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The 2026 front-runners at this juncture are said to be US Rep. Nancy Mace (R-NC) and South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson. Mace has not issued a public position on sports betting. Wilson, however, is adamantly opposed.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Wilson has called online sports betting &#8220;frictionless gambling&#8221; that leads to financial ruin and other societal hardships.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sports-betting-fight-renews-in-south-carolina\/\">Sports Betting Fight Renews in South Carolina, But Effort Faces Long Odds<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\">Casino.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sports betting is once again being reviewed in South Carolina South Carolina is one of only 11 states without legal sports gambling Gov. McMaster remains opposed to new forms of gambling For yet another legislative year, the topic of sports betting is being discussed in the South Carolina General Assembly. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":529,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=527"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":530,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/527\/revisions\/530"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cerulepillar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}