South Carolina Proponents Are Waiting on a New Update for Legal Horse Racing

Peter Lewisby Peter Lewis
Updated: December 5, 2023
South Carolina Proponents Are Waiting on a New Update for Legal Horse Racing

While nothing but negative South Carolina sports betting news has arrived in recent years, a little bit of hope arrived for people last April. In case you missed it, a bill passed that would legalize online betting for horse racing in the state. While things passed in the legislature, things got stuck in the Senate. However, could things change in 2024? As things stand, South Carolina proponents are waiting on a new update for legal horse racing.

Unfortunately for people, things have been pretty hush in recent months. This came as a major surprise, especially since things were looking so promising during the spring and summer. However, with nothing being finalized, that means that the plans for online sports betting on the events on the track still can’t be recorded. With some of the major races coming and going this year, it seems like a wasted opportunity for the state.

Unless some sort of a miracle happens, it feels like no changes will be arriving until late next year. However, there’s also discussion that if legal horse racing is put off, it could be packaged with legal sports betting as a whole for 2025. People had been hoping that legal wagers would arrive in 2023, but nothing was able to happen in the local government. However, there’s buzz that things could really start pushing forward next year.

As things stand, 2025 is the earliest that legal sports betting could arrive in South Carolina. With that said, it will be imperative for online horse racing to be included in everything too. Last April when legislation passed the ball for the legal horse racing wagers, it felt like a positive step forward was taken. We can only hope that those efforts won’t be for nothing, as SC is in need of legal betting now more than ever.

Illegal sports betting for the College Football Playoff is a concern for South Carolina 

One major problem that authorities are going to have to worry about in the coming weeks is that illegal sports betting for the college football playoff is a concern for South Carolina. While the University of South Carolina isn’t in the CFP, people all over the state love SEC football and they’ve been paying close attention to things this season. This includes the SEC title game, with Alabama shocking No. 1 Georgia.

With that win over the Bulldogs, Georgia is now out of contention to win the National Championship Game and Alabama is the No. 4 team in the country – booking a trip to the CFP. With so much excitement surrounding Alabama, which will face No. 1 Michigan in the semifinals, people can’t wait to bet on them for the huge game on Jan. 1. In South Carolina, the belief is that a lot of people are going to be rocking with the Crimson Tide.

Our team is very excited about having the opportunity to play the No. 1 team in the country in the University of Michigan,” Coach Nick Saban said. “They’ve had a very, very successful season, Big Ten champs. I’d like to congratulate them on that. We’re going to look forward to the challenge that we have ahead in terms of what we have to do to prepare and be the best that we can be to play against the No. 1 team in the country.”

Despite things not being made legal yet, this doesn’t take away from the fact that a high number of fans in South Carolina will be checking the NCAAF betting odds leading up to that game vs. Michigan. Officials are sick and tired of illegal activity being recorded, but this is a problem the state is dealing with and things have been like this for a long time. The only way to get things fixed is to get legal sports betting on the docket.

South Carolina continues to monitor sports betting progress in North Carolina

With the hopes of the laws changing soon, South Carolina continues to monitor sports betting progress in North Carolina. Originally, things in NC were supposed to get launched early in 2024, but a recent announcement revealed that things won’t get done until after the Super Bowl. The fact that no Super Bowl betting will be allowed in North Carolina is a big-time problem for so many people out there.

This is of course a major disappointment for people in South Carolina as well, as many people had made plans to cross the state lines for the Super Bowl to watch the game and get their bets in. However, North Carolina will no longer be a tourist attraction for the big game. This is not what people were expecting.

Despite that negative update, everyone is wishfully thinking that by the time the Super Bowl comes for next season, people in South Carolina will be able to place wagers from the comfort of their own homes via an online option. A lot of things are going to have to change until then, but proponents shouldn’t lose hope of that happening. We’ll see if it does.

Peter Lewis

Peter Lewis Jr. comes from Mississippi where he and his family spend their days discussing college football, baseball and basketball. He's written sports journalism for years after studying journalism at a local university. Over time, Peter has cultivated extensive knowledge covering sports betting legislation across the country. He closely tracks the latest...

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