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Across the country, there’s optimism in the air. Optimism because just about everywhere, a new legislative year began in January. For the next several months, there’s a window to create new rules and regulations — which includes legal sports betting.
Amazingly, only 11 states remain without some form of betting on sports. The holdouts range from massive states like Texas or California to mid-sized ones like Georgia to small ones such as Hawaii. Welp, South Carolina is also on the list, and they fit into the small state category.
The brand-new legislative year started in January 14 for South Carolina. It doesn’t end until May 14, but a month in, has there been any form of progress on creating a South Carolina betting system? Well, no and it’s actually surprising. Keep reading and we’ll tell you what’s going on.
Sports Betting Pre-Bill Had High Hopes
The reason why optimism was high in the Palmetto State for sports betting was cause news came out in December that there was a pre-bill for it. The story was that state Republican Chris Murphy was going to introduce HB 3625, or the South Carolina Sports Wagering Act, to legalize betting. It wasn’t just Murphy behind it though. Bipartisan support in the House also came from Republican J. Todd Rutherford and Democra Heath Sessions.
The details of the pre-bill were pretty clear. For one, the idea was to form the South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission, which of course, would oversee the state’s sports betting market. Under the proposed legislation, only operators already licensed in at least five other states would be eligible to apply for a South Carolina sports betting license. Most of the top mobile betting apps — platforms like BetMGM or FanDuel — would easily meet eligibility requirements.
Speaking to which, potential licensees would need to submit a $100,000 application fee and then another $1 million licensing fee. While the licensing fee would be refunded if an application is denied, the application fee would remain with the state. Approved licenses would be valid for five years, providing operators with a long-term opportunity in the South Carolina market.
The pre-bill set a 12.5% tax rate on adjustable sports betting gaming revenues, with operators permitted to deduct promotional spending from gross revenues. That’s actually on the low end of the spectrum. We’re seeing more and more states begin raising tax rates on sports betting — but the pre-bill looked less greedy on South Carolina’s part. Tax revenue would go toward the following:
- 82% to the general fund
- 10% to the general fund to be distributed quarterly to each local government in the state on a per capita basis, based on census results
- 5% to the Department of Mental Health to oversee programs around problem gambling
- 3% to the South Carolina Sports Wagering Commission
The bill would also permit wagering on all collegiate sports. Here again, this is a touchy subject. In many states, local teams are off limits for betting — to prevent any potential “fixing.” But more than that, the pre-bill wanted to set the minimum betting age to 18. That bucks the norm as the only states that allow betting that low are Kentucky, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington, D.C. Everyone else? The limit is 21.
Zero Sign Of Progress
Everything we outlined was just a draft. At the end of the day, the thing still needs to become official. But has it? Nope, nothing.
We’ve gone through the meeting notes. We’ve checked out the local news for updates. Hell, we’ve browsed the X accounts of the politicians that were involved in the pre-bill. We can’t find a hint of evidence that this bill has been kicked around during the last month of the legislative session.
Look, there are still three months to go, but we’d be getting worried if we were South Carolina bettors. We mean, we’re a quarter of the way into the 2025 legislative session so you’d like to see something by now.
The Governor Has Opposed Betting Before
So why the lack of progress? And even if did get introduced for real, would it stand a chance to pass? Well, probably not if we’re being 100% honest.
Governor Henry McMaster has long opposed it. He’s been in office since 2017 now and is locked in until at least 2026 when he’d have to run again if he wants to remain in position. There hasn’t been any new quotes from McMaster about sports betting, but this did come out late last year:
“The governor has always opposed legalized sports betting and campaigned against it during the 2022 gubernatorial election,” Brandon Charochak, a McMaster spokesperson of his said. “His position remains unchanged.”
Efforts certainly haven’t gone very far in the past. In 2023, South Carolina lawmakers introduced an official bill that would have legalized statewide digital sports betting with a 10% tax rate. The proposal included provisions for certain licensees to be tied to the state’s PGA Tour stops and Darlington Raceway, while also offering a limited number of stand-alone licenses for operators.
Similar to the mobile-only models in Tennessee and Vermont, the bill would have established a sports betting market without retail sportsbooks. While the measure successfully passed the House Ways and Means Revenue Policy Subcommittee in 2023, it failed to gain traction and did not advance in 2024.
All of this is to say the chances of anything changing in 2025 are very, very grim. There’s just no precedent or big-name proponent to get this going. South Carolina bettors should temper expectations of anything being passed this year, unfortunately.
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