South Carolina Sports Betting

Sports betting is not yet legal in South Carolina, but some lawmakers are interested in changing that.

The even better news for fans is that recent developments point to growing support for legal South Carolina online sports betting.

Legal South Carolina Betting Sites

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Will South Carolina Legalize Sports Betting?

Lawmakers have introduced multiple bills in recent years to change state law and legalize sports betting in South Carolina.

However, South Carolina sports betting proponents face significant obstacles. The lack of a commercial gambling industry that would otherwise provide the experience, infrastructure, and lobbying activities makes legalizing South Carolina sports betting an uphill battle.

To further complicate matters, legalizing sports betting in South Carolina would require amending the state constitution. Amending the constitution would require a statewide referendum and the approval of voters.

Even so, South Carolina appears to be trending in the right direction for those who support legal sports betting. Every year, lawmakers introduce new bills to legalize online sports betting in South Carolina, and supporters seem to have all the momentum.

In late 2024, Representative Chris Murphy announced plans to introduce sports betting legislation during the next legislative session. Details are still limited, but he says it will resemble the bills that legalized sports betting in North Carolina and Tennessee.

He says there’s clearly demand for sports betting in South Carolina, that when the first North Carolina sportsbook apps launched, fans attempted to place more than a million bets from within South Carolina.

Lawmakers first attempted to legalize sports betting in South Carolina in 2017 with the introduction of .

The bill sought to amend the South Carolina Constitution to allow the General Assembly to authorize sports betting, pari-mutuel horse racing betting, and casino gambling but failed to gain traction.

Lawmakers who supported the bill said legalizing South Carolina sports betting would help fund billions of dollars worth of infrastructure improvements and road repairs that are long overdue in the state.

Lawmakers also  at the prospect of luring major casino operators to the coast where they could set up large, resort-style casinos.

The bill would have required an amendment to the state constitution. This would require not only a majority vote in both houses but also a statewide referendum giving voters in South Carolina the ability to approve or block the proposal.

However, a poll taken in early 2017 yielded : 68% of voters favor the idea of legalizing gambling and inviting a limited number of casinos to set up shop in South Carolina.

Despite those promising numbers, the bill died in the House.

In late 2018, lawmakers again attempted to legalize South Carolina sports wagering by filing a resolution to amend the SC constitution.

Joint Resolution  would have allowed lawmakers to introduce legislation authorizing sports wagering, horse racing betting, and casino games.

The bill died in committee in January 2019.

One bill dating to 2020, , called for a referendum allowing voters to decide if the state should amend the constitution to authorize wagering on professional sports.

Had the bill passed, the question of sports betting would appear on the next ballot for voters to weigh in on the issue. And had voters approved, the next step would have been for lawmakers to craft supporting legislation.

The bill only sought to authorize wagering on professional sports, but it would mark a significant step forward in a state traditionally opposed to most forms of gambling.

In early 2022, South Carolina Governor gubernatorial candidate Joe Cunningham came out in support of legalizing online sports betting and retail sportsbooks.

In , he said this:

“The fact is sports betting is already happening in South Carolina; but it’s underground, unregulated, and brings in zero tax revenue for our state. So we have two options: we can let the bookies run the entire industry and keep it underground with no tax revenue for our state, or we can bring it above board, regulate it, tax it, and fix problems with the money.”

In April 2022, lawmakers introduced HB 5277 to authorize up to 12 online sportsbooks in South Carolina. The bill would have implemented a $500,000 initial licensing fee and a 10% tax on revenues.

In addition, the legislation would allow South Carolina sports betting sites to accept cryptocurrency deposits.

However, the bill didn’t advance beyond the committee phase.

Another bill prefiled ahead of the 2023-24 legislative session sought a constitutional amendment to legalize sports betting in South Carolina.

set the stage for a statewide referendum asking voters if they support giving lawmakers the power to regulate sports wagering and pari-mutuel horse racing betting.

If approved, the measure would have moved South Carolina an important step closer to legalization.

South Carolina Daily Fantasy Sports

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South Carolina law neither prohibits nor permits daily fantasy sports, but that’s not a problem for the nation’s biggest DFS companies. Fantasy sports apps like PrizePicks, OwnersBox, ParlayPlay, and FanDuel serve the South Carolina market and accept customers 18 or above.

The most important thing fans should know about fantasy sports in South Carolina is that the industry is unregulated. As a result, it’s critical to choose safe and reputable DFS apps when playing online.

See BettingUSA’s SC DFS guide for recommended fantasy sports apps and further reading:

South Carolina Horse Racing Betting

Horse racing occurs in South Carolina, but wagering on races is outlawed across the state.

Betting in-person and online is prohibited.

Until the state constitution is amended and new legislation approved, South Carolina horse racing will remain a spectator sport, with no wagering allowed.

Despite the unfavorable conditions for gambling, South Carolina does host a handful of highly regarded horse racing events each year.

Legal online horse racing betting in South Carolina also remains a distinct possibility. Lawmakers introduced legislation in 2022 and 2023 that would have legalized advance deposit wagering.

The 2022 effort ran into strong opposition, with the governor vowing to veto any gambling legislation that reaches his desk. The following year’s effort performed much better, passing a full House vote before running out of steam in the Senate.

South Carolina Online Gambling

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Although online casinos and poker sites are not legal in South Carolina, Sweepstakes casinos offer casino-style games that provide a similar experience.

South Carolina’s gaming laws are among the most restrictive in the nation, and under some interpretations may even prohibit any game involving dice or cards even if no money exchanges hands.

Online gambling is similarly restricted and there appears to be almost no support to authorize online casinos or poker sites.

was originally written in 1802 and is responsible for banning most forms of gaming across the state with few exceptions:

If any person shall play at any tavern, inn, store for the retailing of spirituous liquors or in any house used as a place of gaming, barn, kitchen, stable or other outhouse, street, highway, open wood, race field or open place at (a) any game with cards or dice, (b) any gaming table, commonly called A, B, C, or E, O, or any gaming table known or distinguished by any other letters or by any figures, (c) any roley-poley table, (d) rouge et noir, (e) any faro bank (f) any other table or bank of the same or the like kind under any denomination whatsoever or (g) any machine or device licensed pursuant to Section 12-21-2720 and used for gambling purposes, except the games of billiards, bowls, backgammon, chess, draughts, or whist when there is no betting on any such game of billiards, bowls, backgammon, chess, draughts, or whist or shall bet on the sides or hands of such as do game, upon being convicted thereof, before any magistrate, shall be imprisoned for a period of not over thirty days or fined not over one hundred dollars, and every person so keeping such tavern, inn, retail store, public place, or house used as a place for gaming or such other house shall, upon being convicted thereof, upon indictment, be imprisoned for a period not exceeding twelve months and forfeit a sum not exceeding two thousand dollars, for each and every offense.

Part (a) above is the key piece of text that frustrates so many attempts at organizing any form of gambling in South Carolina. The fact that it says “any game with cards or dice” but doesn’t mention any involvement of money could be interpreted to outlaw even friendly kitchen table games.

In one example, state police warned a retirement community that its friendly bridge club of state gambling law.

SC Code § 16-19-70 further illustrates the state’s level of discomfort with gambling.

Under that provision, the operation of or playing of table games on the Sabbath is considered an offense punishable by a fine of $50.

Some state lawmakers have pushed back against these anti-gambling laws. In 2014, the SC Senate voted unanimously to pass a law allowing retirees to legally play bridge.

In the discussions leading up to the passage of the bill, gambling opponents expressed great concern that the bill would have “unintended consequences” that could potentially open legal loopholes to allow additional forms of gambling.

The odds of legalizing online gambling in South Carolina in the near future remain slim.

South Carolina Online Lottery

The South Carolina Lottery does not yet offer lottery tickets online, so authorized retailers remain the only places where players can buy tickets legally.

Unfortunately, online lottery services like Jackpocket and the Jackpot app do not yet operate in South Carolina, so purchasing tickets via courier apps is also not an option. South Carolina Lottery officials have mentioned looking into online ticket sales, but movement on that front has been slow.

Read more about the South Carolina Lottery online here:

South Carolina Sports Betting FAQ

No. Legalizing South Carolina sportsbooks and betting apps has proven challenging in a state long opposed to most forms of gambling.

It’s unclear when South Carolina will legalize sports betting. Lawmakers have introduced legislation each year since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA, but their efforts have come up short every time.

Yes. DraftKings offers daily fantasy sports contests in South Carolina. If South Carolina legalizes sports wagering, DraftKings will likely be one of the first operators to launch its online sportsbook.

Yes. FanDuel offers daily fantasy contests but not sports betting in South Carolina.

Contests offered by legal South Carolina betting apps like PrizePicks are technically daily fantasy games, but they feel more like sports wagering. Both DFS sites host contests played against the house where customers make predictions like the over/under on certain stats or which athlete will score the most points for real money payouts.

No. South Carolina law prohibits all forms of horse racing betting.