South Carolina Sports Betting And Sportsbook Apps In 2024
South Carolina sports betting is not legal, though there have been multiple attempts to get the industry off the ground in recent years.
Sports and equine bill HB 3749 was the latest attempt by state regulators to pass sports betting legislation, but the bill has been stalled in the House since 2023.
Read on to find out the latest information about the future of legal sports betting in South Carolina.
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South Carolina legal sports betting options in December 2024
While South Carolina does not yet have legal sports betting, North Carolina sportsbooks are just a short drive away for many, as online betting launched in the state in March 2024. If you decide to head there, here are legal sportsbooks you can use in NC. You must be geolocated inside North Carolina state lines to place bets, though you can sign up for an account from anywhere.
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When will online sports betting launch in South Carolina?
It’s not impossible to think a sports betting bill could gain traction in the state after bills were proposed in 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023. However, the short shelf-life of all three is not a great indicator of success for future sports betting bills.
HB 3749 was introduced at the beginning of the 2023 South Carolina legislative session, but it has been stalled in the House ever since. The bill would legalize up to eight sports betting apps — potentially including options with access to some of the best sports betting promos. It would also set the legal sports betting age at 18 or older, and it would not include a prohibition on wagering on college sports.
Legal betting options in South Carolina
There currently are no legal sports betting options in South Carolina.
There are, of course, some websites that claim they can accept sports bets from anywhere in the US. These websites, however, do not have a license to operate in any US jurisdiction. All gambling websites in the US are legalized and licensed at the state level.
Anyone who bets at these websites is taking on a considerable amount of risk. There is no consumer protection available for anyone who gambles at an unlicensed website. That means if an offshore sportsbook decides not to pay out a bet or to shut its operations down without returning customer funds, bettors would have no legal recourse.
As for legal options, more are popping up near South Carolina.
Online sports betting and three retail sports betting locations are legal and available in North Carolina. In-person sportsbooks are available at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River in Murphy, and Catawba Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain.
Tennessee is another close state where mobile sports betting is legal.
Sportsbooks apps that could launch in South Carolina
If legal sports betting ever gets off the ground in South Carolina, a few sportsbooks would make more sense to launch in the state than most. While picking exactly what the list of books may look like is nearly impossible, we can make an educated guess about a few more likely candidates.
- FanDuel — Residents of South Carolina would already be familiar with FanDuel given its presence as a daily fantasy sports provider in the state. Additionally, FanDuel already operates its online sportsbook in many other states on the East Coast, including North Carolina.
- DraftKings — DraftKings would make sense in South Carolina for many of the same reasons as FanDuel. The sports betting giant already has a base of customers in the state through DFS offerings and has a habit of launching in states that don’t have the largest markets for online betting.
- Caesars — Caesars already operates in two North Carolina casinos. South Carolinians who have traveled across the northern border to place bets at legal casinos may already have a relationship with this sports betting stalwart.
- BetMGM — Another sports betting giant in the US, BetMGM combines brand power with a quality sports betting app that is now available in more than 20 states. It would not be a surprise to see BetMGM venture into South Carolina, as well.
Popular sports to bet on in South Carolina
South Carolina is just like many other southern US states: Football reigns supreme. The state is home to major college football programs at Clemson University, the University of South Carolina, and Coastal Carolina University, with the Clemson Tigers football team being the most popular team in any sport in the state. Clemson won the national championship in 2016 and 2018. Here is a list of all of the colleges in the state with major athletic programs:
- Charleston Southern University
- The Citadel
- Clemson University
- Coastal Carolina University
- College of Charleston
- Furman University
- Presbyterian College
- University of South Carolina
- South Carolina State University
- University of South Carolina Upstate
- Winthrop University
- Wofford College
Now, whether South Carolina allows betting on in-state college teams in the future is a toss-up. Some states allow betting on in-state teams while others, like New Jersey and Virginia, do not.
South Carolina doesn’t have any professional teams located in the state, but there are popular teams in the region:
- NFL: Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons
- NBA: Charlotte Hornets, Atlanta Hawks
- NHL: Carolina Hurricanes
- MLB: Atlanta Braves
Just because there are no professional sports teams doesn’t mean there aren’t professional sports in South Carolina. Darlington Raceway hosts NASCAR every year, and betting on NASCAR events would likely be a popular wagering option in the state.
South Carolina DFS pick’em
South Carolina is a gray state when it comes to daily fantasy sports. That means while the activity is not illegal, it also isn’t regulated and taxed by the state.
DFS platforms do accept contest entries from within the borders of South Carolina. This includes the biggest names in daily fantasy sports, like DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks, and Underdog.
Read below to find out more about some of the DFS apps currently available in South Carolina.
Underdog South Carolina
Underdog is a DFS platform with a couple of categories of contests: pick’em and draft.
Draft contests use the best ball format, meaning users can set and forget their teams after they’ve picked them in the initial snake draft. Once the draft is complete, the app automatically sets each team’s lineup, and users don’t interact with their teams in any way for the duration of the contest. Contests could be as short as one day or as long as the entire season. The winner is the team with the most cumulative points.
Underdog’s pick’em offerings require users to pick an over/under on between two and five individual player stat lines that Underdog sets. Users also have the option of choosing who will have the higher total (with an adjustment) in one stat between two players. For example, Christian McCaffrey +5.5 rushing yards versus Saquon Barkley.
Sleeper Picks South Carolina
Better known as a traditional fantasy app, Sleeper also offers Sleeper Picks, a pick’em style contest where customers must get every selection correct to win. Users pick between two and eight individual stat lines.
Betr Picks South Carolina
Betr Picks is very similar to Sleeper Picks in that users select between two and eight stat lines and must get all of their picks right to win. However, Betr Picks requires users to pick “yes” or “no” on whether the athlete will go over their provided total. Most other pick’em games require users to pick over or under the given line.
Is horse racing legal in South Carolina?
Outside of a few limited events, horse racing is not legal in South Carolina. Neither is pari-mutuel betting on out-of-state races.
South Carolina also does not allow betting on advance deposit wagering sites, which let bettors place bets on horse races from their computers or mobile phones.
South Carolina sports betting timeline
2024: 2023 sports betting bill HB 3749 does not cross over from the House to the Senate before the April 10 deadline and remains stalled in the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Revenue Policy.
2023: HB 3749 is introduced and read in the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Revenue Policy. The bill will likely face a few more hearings before a full committee vote.
2022: HB 5277 is introduced. This bill proposes legalizing sports betting, including for mobile devices. The bill has bipartisan support but dies in committee.
2021: HB 3395 is introduced. The bill proposes an amendment to the constitution of South Carolina to legalize sports betting, horse betting, and casino gambling. The bill is read once and dies after being referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
2019: A joint effort from the House and Senate to legalize multiple forms of gambling, including casinos, dice games, and sports betting, fails to drum up discussion.
The joint resolutions, HJR 3409 and SJR 57, called for an amendment to South Carolina’s constitution. They were backed by Sen. Gerald Malloy and Reps. J. Todd Rutherford and Kambrell Garvin.
The bills died after their first readings in their committees.
Similarly, another joint resolution that called for the creation of a gambling study commission failed after its first committee reading. That effort was also championed by Malloy.
SJR 71 called for a “comprehensive analysis of the costs and benefits legalized gambling may produce for the state.” The nine-member committee would have included appointments from the governor, the president of the Senate, and the speaker of the House.
South Carolina sports betting FAQ
Is sports betting legal in South Carolina?
No, South Carolina sports betting is not legal. The future of sports betting in the state is uncertain at the moment.
Where can I bet on sports?
Right now, there are no legal options to bet on sports in South Carolina.
Who will be able to bet on sports in South Carolina?
If sports betting were to become legal in South Carolina, it would most likely be limited to people who are 21 or older.
Is DFS legal in South Carolina?
There are no laws indicating whether DFS is legal or illegal in South Carolina, so companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings continue to operate and accept entries in a sort of gray area in the state.
Can I bet on my phone in South Carolina?
There are no legal options to bet on sports from a mobile device in South Carolina at this time.
There are some sports betting websites that say they accept bets from the United States. Are those legal options?
There are some sportsbook sites and apps that say they will accept bets from residents in South Carolina, but those websites aren’t properly licensed.
All US sportsbooks are licensed by a state or jurisdiction and not at a federal level. Therefore, there are no sportsbooks that could offer sports betting to anyone within the US.
Betting with those operations is risky for the customer as there are no protections. This means the operation could choose to not pay out a winning bet or could close without returning customer funds.