Roll Tide!
Alabama is synonymous with college athletics royalty. Excellence on the football field has vaulted the relevancy of this state to the top of every sports fan’s list. But are the residents of Alabama able to capitalize through legal sports betting? Unfortunately, they can’t legally sports gamble at this time.
The three biggest cities in Alabama hover around 200,000 in population. Huntsville is the biggest with roughly 216,000. Montgomery and Birmingham both have around 200,000. There are no professional sports teams in the state. This is a major reason why college sports are followed with such passion. Some of the more well-known Division 1 programs are, Alabama, Auburn, Troy, UAB, North Alabama and Samford.
The Yellowhammer State is one of the best in the country for college athletics. The residents of Alabama have a major appetite for sports. It’s unfortunate that they currently can’t take this passion to legal sports books and place a bet.
Gambling is legal in Alabama, but sports betting is not. The only operational casinos in the state are run by Native American tribes. There are also two racinos to bet horse and greyhound races. Alabama is a considered an anti-gambling state. However, there have been some changes in attitude regarding sports betting.
In 2020, House Bill 336 was introduced that would legalize sports gambling at retail locations and online within Alabama. It failed to progress before the state legislation ended in 2020. The next year another bill was written to legalize retail casinos, sports betting, and the state lottery. This bill passed in the Senate but couldn’t advance in the House.
For an “anti-gambling state”, there has been a lot of progression to finally legalize. There is optimism that eventually something will be passed within the state to make sports gambling legal. A lot of that sentiment comes from 2019 when House Bill 361 was passed to legalize Daily Fantasy Sports.