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Envy is a hell of an emotion, isn’t it? Seeing your peers succeed often pushes you to do the same. We’re seeing this transpire on a state level with South Carolina.
They’re eyeing their neighbors up north that legalized sports betting in 2024 — and those eyes are lighting up. That’s because North Carolina’s betting market has wildly exceeded expectations in a few short months. That success has South Carolina thinking dollars signs too.
That is a key reason why experts and ourselves anticipate the state to push hard for legalization in 2025 — which is only four months away. Here’s what you should be expecting:
South Carolina Is Missing Big Money
South Carolina is one of 12 states without any form of sports betting at the moment. None. Ever since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting in 2018, 38 states saw a new source of tax revenue. And so far, those states are seeing big-time returns.
Those 38 states combined to create an $11 billion industry in 2023 alone. Of that revenue, a total of $2.5 billion went to state taxes last year. Mind you, a lot of these states don’t have a free market for betting either. Many have monopolies with tribal casinos that only support in-person betting. So those figures would be bigger if more states allowed betting more openly.
However, it wasn’t until North Carolina started getting in on the money that their neighbors in the South took notice. Legalized betting in North Carolina launched in March of this year. While the state does have a few tribal casinos that offer it, they also let in mobile-only operators like DraftKings and FanDuel. Only a few months in, the legalization efforts have proven to be a wild success — and we mean wild.
Originally the state of North Carolina estimated they’d make $64 million in tax profits from year one. Solid numbers, but nothing extraordinary.
“The legalization of sports betting will provide a significant boost to North Carolina’s economy and will allow our thriving sports industry to continue to grow,” Governor Roy Cooper said the day betting went live on March 11.
A little over five months later, it’s safe to say Cooper and company were way too modest. Get this, on July 1, the state had produced a hair over $50 million in taxes and fees — almost 80% of the $64 million it projected. Holy smokes. We’re not sure if those numbers say more about the North Carolina market overperforming or in-state lawmakers underestimating the appetite for legal wagering.
Mind you, this is before football season begins. The majority of tax revenues are made off the sport. North Carolina will for the first time have access to betting for Panthers games, which should be a massive boon to the tax figures.
Previous Sports Betting Efforts Have Fallen Just Short
Here’s the thing. Not only is some jealousy at play for 2025, but South Carolina has a lot of recent history with the issue. After a few years, lawmakers have gotten familiar with the topic. So when it’s on the table again next year, it’ll be a little less “blindsiding” per se.
Let’s recap how South Carolina has handled sports betting. It all started in 2022 when Joe Cunningham, who was running for governor at the time (he failed), made legalizing sports betting one of his big campaign points.
“Sports betting is happening in South Carolina. It’s just under the table, unregulated, and overseen by bookies. Our state gets nothing,” he said at the time. “It’s time to legalize sports betting, bring it to the surface, and use the new tax revenue to cut taxes and invest in our teachers and roads.”
He’s probably not wrong. Offshore online sportsbooks are especially popular in markets where betting is banned. While we love using them, he’s right when he says the state gets zero benefits out of it. If legalized, they’d at least get some tax dollars out of it.
After that, a couple of bipartisan bills popped up in the state legislature. The first one, backed by Rep. Russell Ott, was kind of niche —it was all about online gambling for horse racing. Ott’s bill actually made it through the S.C. House with a 56-46 vote in April but fizzled out in the Senate.
Then there was a second, much more ambitious bill. This one, introduced by Rep. Chris Murphy aimed to legalize online sports betting across the board — for both professional and college sports. The idea was that it could bring in at least $20 million a year, with the lion’s share going to the state’s General Fund. Even with a big push from supporters and nearly $300,000 spent on lobbying by major industry players, this bill also hit a wall like the horse-racing bill did.
We say all this to say — this issue has garnered support in the past, both from the House and lobbyists. You throw in the North Carolina success stories and we strongly feel South Carolina can get something passed in 2025. All the momentum is right there!
See below the top sportsbooks where you can wager online and choose the best one for you:
