Alabama Committee Passes Gambling Bill That Would Legalize Sports Betting
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What HB161 Includes
Alabama could become the next state to legalize sports betting, but HB161 includes much more. The new bill would bring mobile betting, which is crucial for this day and age, alongside retail sportsbooks. Alabama is making the full jump into sports betting with this bill as you would be able to wager online/mobile or in person. Within the bill, there is also an addition for casino gambling and allowing casino operations in multiple counties. Given Alabama has not had any history with casinos in their state, all of this would be groundbreaking. The bill also proposes an education lottery, which would give revenue to scholarship foundations.
Often we don’t get a look into the revenue plans just yet, but a 20% state tax would be included, and 65% of revenue would be allocated to infrastructure, 25% would go towards health care services, and 10% for mental health services. The Senate Tourism Committee has already overseen and passed this bill as it moves to the state senate.
What Happens Next?
With the start of these bills, we begin to see them voted on by a house or some sort of approved committee with the state. If the committee fails to vote and approve the bill, it will not make it to the senate to vote. Back in 2019, a similar bill came to the senate but failed and was thrown out. However, with states in need of income, we should see a more pressing urgency and a change of minds. A legislative session has not been set yet, but the state Senate will need to vote on the bill in addition to the House of Representatives. If all goes well, Governor Kay Ivey would be the final approval.
Sports Betting & The NCAA
There has been no information on how Alabama would deal with betting on college sports. We have seen different approaches taken by different states. For example, some states have access to bet on any college sports teams, while some states allow college sports betting outside of in-state teams. With Alabama not holding any sort of professional team and being very college sports-driven, it will be interesting to see how Alabama approaches college sports and betting.
Alabama and Auburn are the two major schools within Alabama, and there has not been any word on whether they support the bill or not. However, the state having in-person casinos and sportsbooks could attract attention around the college areas.
