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Nothing is changing when it comes to South Carolina sports betting news and that’s enough to have residents pretty frustrated with the lack of a push. People have been calling for legal wagers to come to the state for a while now, but the local government continues to get in the way. It doesn’t help the cause here with the fact that South Carolina Residents are furious over North Carolina’s betting success thus far in their project.
According to a report, North Carolina was able to post more than $650 million for its sports betting handle in March. North Carolina was just able to launch legal sports betting last month, a process that took a long time as well. There were some concerns that perhaps NC would get off to a slow start, but that obviously was not the case. Indeed, $650 million is an unreal number for your first month and that’s exactly what they were able to get done.
This is not great for SC residents, as they want to see their own state have a similar kind of success. Instead, people in South Carolina who wanted to place legal March Madness betting wagers in March were forced to leave the state to do so. With North Carolina being a neighboring state, this led to a lot of people crossing the border to take advantage of the new betting rules over there. Why should people have to leave home to do this?
This has been an issue for a long time and now that North Carolina is on board, it gives people in South Carolina even more of a reason to head that way. One day, hopefully sooner rather than later, the hope is that South Carolina will be given the green light and sports fans will be able to place bets from the comfort of their own homes. It will be interesting to see if that happens by next year or not, but folks aren’t confident in something getting done.
We've got our first look at North Carolina's sports betting performance.
According to the Lottery Commission, NC customers bet more than $659.3 million from March 11 through March 31.
This resulted in $66.49 million in gross wagering revenue, nearly $12 million in tax revenue.
— RLinnehanXL (@RLinnehanXl) April 16, 2024
Illegal March Madness betting in South Carolina was through the roof
One thing legislators need to keep in mind is that illegal March Madness betting in South Carolina was through the roof. This wasn’t a surprise at all, as people had their eyes on the NCAAB betting odds and the NCAAW betting odds. On the men’s side, the North Carolina Tar Heels had the No. 1 seed for their bracket and they were hoping to win it all. However, they totally blew it in the Sweet 16, losing to Alabama.
Tons of bets were made in NC on the Tar Heels, but with South Carolina being so close, countless fans also wanted to see them do well. That didn’t end up being the case, with UConn and Purdue facing off in the National Championship Game. This was a contest of intrigue for a lot of people, with the Huskies going back-to-back with title victories. It goes without saying, but a lot of illegal bets were placed on that game.
Our player of the week? You already know! #Gamecocks I @TrustTerminix pic.twitter.com/QswreYOggE
— Gamecock Athletics (@GamecocksOnline) April 16, 2024
The exact same could be said for the women’s National Championship Game, as South Carolina took on Iowa and the one and only Caitlin Clark. USC was able to win the title, providing a ton of smiles for people all over the state. Dawn Staley will go down as one of the best coaches in college history, as this title only added to her legacy with the University of South Carolina. She truly is a legend of the sport.
Having said all of that, with so many eyes on the women’s tourney and SC being so talented, the number of illegal wagers was unfortunate. College betting as a whole has been a concern, but things reach a different level each season when the NCAA Tournament gets here. This is going to be a growing issue for South Carolina no matter what, but things are made worse with sports betting still being illegal.
Will South Carolina be able to legalize sports betting by 2025?
A question a lot of people have on their minds right now is will South Carolina be able to legalize sports betting by 2025? That’s tough to say, but there surely isn’t a lot of optimism about things changing within the next year. One of the main issues for the state is there are so many politicians who are against getting things done. There is a worry that addiction will be on the rise, while others don’t think sports betting will bring in enough revenue for the state.
This is something that fans are disagreeing with. Sports betting is illegal now and it’s still a problem. If things are made legal, the money will at least be exchanged in a regulated fashion. As for revenue concerns, that’s just silly, as we have seen several states post more than $100 million in revenue in a single month. South Carolina is behind when it comes to the sports betting push. We will have to wait and see if any positive steps can be taken over the next 12 months or so.
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