Alabama Sports Gambling Bill

1. Alabama Sports Gambling Bill In Kentucky
2. Alabama Sports Gambling Bill In Michigan
3. Michigan Sports Gambling Bill
4. Alabama Sports Gambling Bill 2019

On Monday, lawmakers unveiled a piece of legislation that would legalize sports betting in the state of Alabama. The bill, titled HB 135, was introduced by representatives Mike Rogers and Mary Moore and if successful will allow betting on professional and collegiate sporting events. The proposed legislation would also create the Alabama Sports Wagering Commission to.

• AL HB 315 is a new sports betting bill that has appeared in Alabama.
• This is the very first sports betting bill for the state.
• Multiple attempts to legalize any form of gambling has failed in Alabama.

Nov 07, 2020 Sports betting is now legal and active in 19 states and Washington, D.C, and legislation legalizing sports betting has passed in six other states, according to data from the American Gaming. Sports Betting in Alabama is actually an industry that is not entirely illegal in Alabama, depending on how you look at the laws. If you want to play the odds, you will not have too much trouble doing so by way of the various options we have found. While the bill doesn't actually include the word 'online' – another key factor in the recent push for legalized sports gambling – anywhere in its 43 pages, it does state, 'An operator may accept wagers from an individual physically located within this state using a mobile or other digital platform or a sports wagering device approved by the. The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill allowing for paid-entry fantasy sports contests in the state and it will now go to the Senate for the next round of voting. It passed by way of a 43-38 vote after the state decided that fantasy sports do not fall under Alabama’s anti-gambling laws.

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – A brand new sports betting bill has appeared for the first time in Alabama on Tuesday.

Representative John Rogers has introduced AL HB 315 to Alabama’s House of Representatives. This bill aims to legalize sports betting in Alabama and it gives the details on what needs to be done for it to be successful in the Yellowhammer State.

What The Bill Will Do

There are a large number of things that this bill sets out to do for Alabama. One of the key actions is this bill will create and authorize the Alabama Sports Wagering Commission.

This commission is being created due to the fact that there are no authorities for gambling in Alabama. The state doesn’t have any casinos and there isn’t even a state lottery. There are tribal casinos but they aren’t allowed to offer table games. If Alabama passes this bill, the Sports Wagering Commission would be Alabama’s first gambling authority.

To fund this commission, the state is going to tax the gross revenue of sports betting at a 10% rate. This money taxed will go directly into the Alabama Sports Wagering Fund. It doesn’t seem like the tax for sports betting will go into anything else.

Where To Place Your Sports Bets

Because there are no state-licensed casinos or lotteries in Alabama, the bill says that sportsbooks will open in Alabama’s pari-mutual tracks. The only issue with this is that there is only on track in Alabama that has live racing; a greyhound racing track in Birmingham. It is currently unclear whether or not the bill will allow for sports betting in their simulcast tracks.

One of the more likely ways that people in Alabama will place their bets is through their mobile device or on the internet. AL HB 315 authorizes sports betting to be done through a mobile device anywhere in the state. The bill says that the mobile platform will be done through a “licensed gaming facility,” but it doesn’t indicate exactly who will run the app.

Sports Betting Is A Longshot In Alabama

Alabama sports betting has a very tough hill to climb before it can be legalized. The Yellowhammer State has stood a strong stance against any form of gambling expansion. It has been almost 20 years since the state’s residents have been able to vote to authorize a state lottery.

There is also the fact that daily fantasy sports (DFS) is also considered illegal in Alabama. DFS operators like DraftKings and FanDuel had to pull out of the state back in 2016. Any attempt to legalize and regulate DFS has failed since then.

Alabama has even restricted what the tribes can offer in their casinos. The tribal casinos are not allowed to offer table games, they can only offer bingo machines. The only reason why these casinos are allowed to exist is that they are in tribal lands.

But this doesn’t mean that sports betting in Alabama is doomed to fail. The fact of the matter is pari-mutual racing is allowed in Alabama. If lawmakers can convince opponents that sportsbooks can coexist with pari-mutual races in these tracks, then there is a chance that sportsbooks can open in the near future. There isn’t a lot of time to debate the bill as the legislature dismisses in June.

When it comes to states synonymous with the South and its traditions, there may be no greater representative than Alabama. Its contributions and appearances in American history are legion, both good and bad.

However, there may be no state more confused about its identity with respect to gambling than Alabama. It has forged its own unique place as perhaps the most on-again, off-again state in the union.

Online gambling

Alabama’s official stance on online gambling is similar to that of many states. There is no law definitively for or against online gambling in the Heart of Dixie. However, the only brand of gambling that is securely legal in Alabama is pari-mutuel facilities.

Furthermore, there is no state lottery in Alabama. This negates a common avenue for proponents of gambling to introduce slot machine-type gambling to regions of the country. So, the current climate for typical online gambling is fairly negative, even though its status under the law is uncertain. AL sports betting is not yet legal.

However, Alabama is moving forward with the Fantasy Sports Bill. It recently cleared the state house and could become law in the near future. The bill, dubbed HB354, now moves to the Alabama State Senate. In theory, it could be on the governor’s desk within a few weeks. There are some rumbles of constitutional difficulty with the bill though, because of Alabama’s express prohibition of gambling in its chief legislative document.

Interestingly though, supporters of the bill have managed to turn the discourse about DFS into one where daily fantasy sports is primarily a skill game. Thus it cannot be considered gambling under state law. This structuring of the argument could potentially open the door for other expansions in the state for skill-heavy games, such as poker. For right now, the best thing to do is wait and see. But it does seem that things might be shifting down on the Delta.

Likely online gambling operators

Social casino options

The social casino options in Alabama are typical of most states. Slotomania, Double Down Casino, Big Fish, ZyngaPoker, and Zynga Slots are all available.

However, Alabama’s laws are uniquely harsh when it comes to enforcement. Even social gambling is barred inside the state, to the point that players in home games have found themselves on the receiving end of the criminal justice system. Players should exercise great caution in playing any type of casino game in Alabama. This includes the free social ones on Facebook or mobile devices.

The option about which to be especially cautious is MyVegas. This is MGM’s free slots app that allows players to build up loyalty points in a banked account. The danger lies in the fact that these loyalty points can be exchanged for real-world comps at participating MGM properties and partners, including some properties in nearby Mississippi. It would not be a stretch for Alabama to apply its stringent anti-gambling laws to the receipt of these prizes.

State casino operator history

Pari-Mutuel wagering

Alabama has one of the more hit-and-miss gambling histories in the US. The state legalized pari-mutuel wagering on horse and dog races in 1971. Its first track opened in 1973, but the tracks have been malingering along by offering less-prestigious greyhound racing for several years.

Bingo

Its first bingo parlor opened in 1980 when a single county legalized it (Jefferson, through constitutional amendment). However, the state has had to pass 18 more amendments to bring bingo to each new county that desires the game.

Most notably, the game of electronic bingo has gone back and forth in legality several times since 2003. Voters in Macon County approved a constitutional amendment to allow the machines at the Victoryland racetrack. This began a comical cycle of the facility placing machines at the location and the government confiscating the machines and associated cash, along with closing down the entire facility, only to have the racetrack reopen again with new machines. This cycle has occurred at least twice, and many small debates have raged between these blow-ups. As of September 2016, Alabamans can once again play electronic bingo at Victoryland. No word on when the next raid and shutdown will occur.

Alabama Sports Gambling Bill In Kentucky

Lottery

The state does not offer a lottery option to its residents, even though lottery is often the exception for many states (like Texas) that are traditionally opposed to gambling. Various important citizens in the state have been campaigning for a lottery since 1993. In fact, it was a major plank for Don Siegelman when he successfully ran for governor in 1998. Even so, he still couldn’t get the constitution amended to allow lottery. There was hope for some movement in 2020, but the regular legislative session adjourned without a hearing on any lottery proposals.

Casinos

The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 allowed federally recognized tribes to operate gaming facilities on tribal lands, and in Alabama, the only tribe to do so is the Poarch Band of Creek Indians. The tribe operates three Class II facilities (meaning no table games) in the eastern part of the state. They generate tax revenue for Alabama’s government. Naturally, the state sued the tribe in 2013 to close the three casinos. It took two years of litigation to finally have the suit thrown out.

The most silver of linings for Alabama residents is the state’s proximity to Mississippi. There are two different areas of note for casino gambling in Mississippi – Biloxi/Gulfport and Tunica. Over 30 casinos are spread across Alabama’s neighbor to the west, and the Biloxi locations are especially accessible to residents in the southern part of Alabama. Mobile is a short hour’s drive away.

Still, much like flowers in the desert, four facilities have managed to find a way to live in the Heart of Dixie. They are listed below.

Land-based casinos

Alabama Sports Gambling Bill In Michigan

Michigan Sports Gambling Bill

State Legal Environment

Alabama Sports Gambling Bill 2019