South Carolina may have a state lottery, but as of this writing, the Palmetto State legislators have yet to pass any sports betting bill. However, daily fantasy sports has yet to be addressed by lawmakers, leaving it in a gray area that remains unregulated and untaxed.
Let’s go through the main reasons behind this delay and its potential impact on top-rated sportsbooks.
Unregulated Environment
You won’t see any sportsbooks operating in South Carolina as the law specifically prohibits it. However, daily fantasy sports (DFS) is a different animal in South Carolina as it is not illegal but neither is it regulated and taxed. Thus, South Carolinians have instant access to some of the biggest DFS players in the industry like DraftKings, FanDuel, PrizePicks and Underdog.
Many of the DFS operators have expanded their gambling offerings to include “pick’em” games, which are essentially player prop parlays masquerading as a DFS contest. For those unfamiliar, sites like PrizePicks will allow customers to choose over or under on a player prop total such as passing yards, receiving yards, rushing yards, etc. but they must include two or more of these props, otherwise, it would be considered sports betting.
The issue many states have with pick’em games from DFS sites is that they too closely resemble sports betting because that’s precisely what it is. Many states like Florida have sent cease-and-desist letters to those DFS operators who continued to offer pick’em games in the Sunshine State. Moreover, unlike DFS tournaments where people play against each other and the house takes a rake, or a commission, the pick’em games have customers playing directly against the house, much like a sportsbook does.
“These games, logistically and mechanically, are exactly the same as sportsbooks,” said Dustin Gouker, a sports betting and online gambling industry consultant.
Going North
While states all over the nation are legalizing, regulating and taxing sports betting, South Carolina continues to delay what many believe is inevitable. Northern neighbor, North Carolina, recently launched sports betting, and that will undoubtedly attract bettors from south of the border.
“I think one of the things that’s going to happen in South Carolina is, more and more, South Carolina citizens are going to go to North Carolina to engage in a more open sport gambling marketplace,” said Mark Nagel, a USC sports and entertainment professor, and researcher. “And that’s going to cause many people in South Carolina or more people to say, ‘Why can’t I do this here?’
South Carolina has had its share of sports betting bills, one as recently as this session, but it has continued to languish in the House Ways and Means Committee. Much of the opposition stems from South Carolina’s puritanical Bible Belt mentality.
“It’s just a moral issue for me,” said Representative David Hiott, R-Pickens, South Carolina’s House majority leader. “I just don’t think we need to supply that temptation in the state of South Carolina.”
However, others believe it is a source of untapped state revenue that should be exploited.
“(If) somebody wants to go out and work hard for their money if they want to use that money to wager on a horse race every now and then, then they should have the right to do that,” said Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, a sponsor of South Carolina’s two gambling bills. “Especially in light of the fact that we’ve got state-sanctioned gambling already in the state, with the state lottery,” Ott added.
