Alabama Sports Betting Overview
The state hasn’t had much success with gambling legislation in the past, but there seems to be an appetite to legalize Alabama sports betting at some point in the future.
Momentum towards legalization has been building over the last couple of years after a 2021 bill made it to the Alabama Senate floor before dying. 2022 brought a bill that proposed a constitutional amendment to legalize sports betting and institute a state lottery. That, too, failed to pass through the Legislature.
Two of Alabama’s border states, Mississippi and Tennessee, have legalized sports betting. Tennessee offers mobile-only sports betting, while bettors in Mississippi need to visit a casino to place their bets. Another border state, Georgia, tried to pass mobile betting several times in recent years.
It seems likely that if more states begin to allow mobile betting that would be easily accessible to residents of Alabama, legislators would want to find a way to keep those tax dollars from leaving the state.
With no current sports betting legislation, it’s impossible to give a timeline right now. If sports betting in the state is eventually legalized, it can take three months to a year to implement and officially launch. With the Alabama legislature scheduled to convene on March 7, 2023, the earliest possible launch would likely be sometime at the end of 2023, if not in 2024.
Alabama also has only three tribal casinos and no lottery, so retail Alabama sports betting could be sparse. The latest bill proposed in-person, on-premises play at licensed casinos or play through online platforms offered through those casinos. What future bills may propose or what kind of online sportsbook promos might be available is unclear.
No legal sportsbook websites accept bets from anyone within the state of Alabama. Any other websites that accept sports bets from someone in Alabama are not a legal option within the United States. Various familiar sportsbooks operate offshore, meaning they don’t hold a license from any US jurisdiction to accept bets from residents legally.
These websites offer no consumer protection whatsoever. Winning bets might not be paid out, and companies can disappear without returning player deposits.
The only safe and protected way to bet on sports in the United States is with a licensed operator.
Timeline for Alabama Sports Betting Legal Efforts
In 2023, Lawmakers in Alabama expect multiple gaming bills, including online sports betting bills, to be introduced during the state’s legislative session. There is a substantial appetite to legalize sports betting among lawmakers in the state, and the effort would reportedly have the backing of Gov. Kay Ivey.
The University of Alabama fired their head baseball coach, Brad Bohannon, amid an investigation into suspicious betting activity around an Alabama vs. LSU game on April 30. Multiple jurisdictions prevented sportsbooks from allowing sports betting wagers on Crimson Tide baseball.
In 2022, SB 293 and SB 294 were introduced. SB 293 proposed an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama and would have established a state lottery while allowing for sports betting and casino-style games. The bill limited sports betting to in-person play at a registered casino or mobile play through a platform provided by a registered casino. The bill limited the number of licensed facilities to five in the state.
SB 294 would have implemented the amendment proposed by SB 293. Both bills died on the Senate floor.
Also, in 2022, HB 405 was introduced to make sports betting legal solely within Jefferson County. Jefferson County contains the state’s largest city and capital, Birmingham. The bill did not make it passed a first reading.
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