Digital Wager Wire highlights the most important events impacting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industry each week throughout the year.
Hawaii on the Precipice of Legalizing Sports Betting
The Hawaii Senate has voted 15-10 to approve mobile sports betting and daily fantasy sports after passage in the House. House Bill 1308 will now return to the House for “concurrence,” which means the lower chamber must approve of any of the Senate’s amendments.
Should the House concur, the bill would then advance to Hawaii Governor Josh Green’s desk for his signature, making the Aloha State the 40th state in the nation to legalize sports betting. According to the bill, sports betting must launch by December 31, 2025.
The measure dictates a 10% tax on sportsbooks’ revenues and a $250,000 licensing fee. The governing authority would fall to the Department of Law Enforcement after the Department of Consumer Protection declined due to a dearth of resources at the agency.
Hawaii is currently one of just two states, including Utah, without any legal form of gambling, which made this legislation an unlikely success when the journey began. Despite strident opposition by conservative lawmakers, religious organizations, anti-gambling groups, and even the Attorney General’s Office, a study in 2022 revealed that 73% of Hawaii’s residents supported online sports betting.
Estimated taxes derived from sports betting are expected to bring between $10 million and $20 million to the state.
Alabama Pro-Tem Senator Says No to Sports Betting
The Alabama House has been persistent in trying to pass sports betting legislation over the last few years, but its colleagues in the Senate have not been receptive to its entreaties. Last year, a bill sponsored by Representative Russell Blackshear gained approval in the House but died in the Senate.
Blackshear was disappointed and frustrated by the upper chamber’s obstinance and said any future sports betting bill would have to emanate from the Senate.
“Any gaming legislation in the 2025 session must originate in the Senate,” Blackshear said. “If the Senate does choose to take up a gaming package and they pass something and send it to the House, then and only then will we in the House engage and determine how we move forward.”
“The House proved, on two separate occasions, to be able to pass a comprehensive gaming plan out of our body to allow the citizens to vote,” Blacksher added. “We also saw, on one occasion, we were not able to see that same thing in the Senate, so there is no need for us to tie up time, our members’ time, and other important bills to address something we have already done until the Senate is able to do the same.”
Another Attempt
However, that didn’t stop another legislative attempt this year by several House members who included suggestions from the Senate last year and incorporated them into this year’s bill, HB 490. The measure included a 10% tax on sportsbook revenues and established the Alabama Gaming Commission as the governing body.
However, Senate Pro-Tem Garlan Gudger recently stated there were still not enough votes in the Senate to approve this year’s and has decided to shelve it for another year.
“We ended up pulling our consensus together of all of our colleagues in the Senate doing an independent vote count and just looking at the numbers there. We just don’t have the votes. There were just two less votes to even get into that topic. And so we decided we needed to shut it down, or we’re going into it.”
