South Carolina

Last verified September 27, 2026

By the Legal Sportsbooks US editorial team

South Carolina

Not legal

Legal since

Not legal

Minimum age

Not applicable (no legal sports betting)

Regulator

None

Licensed apps

None

State law

S.C. Code 16-19-10 et seq. (Title 16, ch. 19, gaming)

Is sports betting legal in South Carolina?

No. Section 16-19-130 of the state code, which dates to 1912, makes bookmaking and recording or forwarding bets on any contest a misdemeanor, and no law carves out sports wagering. There are no licensed sportsbooks, retail or online. Bills to legalize have been filed in every session since 2017, and none has reached a floor vote. The Catawba Nation, whose reservation is in South Carolina, runs its casino and sportsbook across the line in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.

Why it isn't legal yet

Bills have taken two routes. Joint resolutions would add a Section 16 to Article XVII of the constitution so the General Assembly could allow gambling, sports betting included, in specified areas, subject to a statewide vote. Statutory bills would create a sports wagering commission and license online books without an amendment. Neither route has cleared a committee. Article XVII, Section 7 lets only the state run lotteries, with exceptions for charitable bingo and nonprofit raffles.

S.444, the South Carolina Sports Wagering Act from Sens. Tom Davis and Matthew Leber, was referred to the Senate Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee on March 12, 2025. It would allow up to eight online operators, tax them at 12.5% and set the betting age at 18. A subcommittee heard it for about two hours on February 18, 2026 and didn't vote. The House version, H.3625, sat in Ways and Means, and its lead sponsor, Rep. Chris Murphy, resigned from the House on January 5, 2026. H.3353, the Rutherford and Grant amendment resolution, never left House Judiciary. Gov. Henry McMaster has said he would veto a gambling bill, and term limits bar him from running again in 2026. Bills that didn't pass in the two-year 126th General Assembly have to be filed again in 2027.

The history of sports betting law in South Carolina

Lottery and video poker (1986 to 2000)

The state's betting ban comes from the 1912 statute now codified as Section 16-19-130, and a separate law from 1712 (Section 32-1-10) lets gamblers who lose $50 or more sue the winner to get it back. Until 2000 the constitution banned all lotteries. Voters changed that on November 7, 2000, when Amendment 1 passed with 54% and created the Education Lottery. Section 7 now says only the state may conduct lotteries and that net proceeds go to the Education Lottery Account.

The code exempted coin-operated "nonpayout" machines that didn't pay out "money or property," and a 1986 amendment deleted the words "or property." In State v. Blackmon (1991) the Supreme Court read the change to allow cash payouts as long as a person, and not the machine, handed over the money. By March 1999 the state counted nearly 34,000 machines. The General Assembly met in a special session called by Gov. Jim Hodges, and Act 125 was ratified on July 1, 1999 and signed on July 2. Part I ended cash payouts as of July 1, 2000, and Part II called a statewide referendum on whether payouts should continue. The Supreme Court struck the referendum in October 1999 and let the rest stand, and the ban on video gaming machines took effect on July 1, 2000.

The Catawba settlement

The Catawba sued in 1980 to recover a 225-square-mile tract in York, Lancaster and Chester counties. The 1993 settlement, ratified by Congress (25 U.S.C. §§ 941 to 941n) and by the state (S.C. Code §§ 27-16-10 to 27-16-140), took the tribe out of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Instead, the tribe may offer video poker "to the same extent that the devices are authorized by state law." When video poker ended in 2000, so did the tribe's right to it, as later lawsuits confirmed. In 2020 the Interior Department took land in Kings Mountain, North Carolina into trust for the tribe, which opened a temporary Two Kings casino there on July 1, 2021 under a North Carolina compact and added a sportsbook in September 2022.

Bills after Murphy v. NCAA (2017 to 2026)

Rep. Todd Rutherford prefiled the first amendment resolution, H.3102, on December 15, 2016, and has refiled it every session since: H.3409 in 2019, H.3395 in 2021, H.3095 in 2023 and H.3353 in 2025. Sen. Malloy filed Senate twins (S.57, S.98 and S.68). The Supreme Court struck down the federal sports betting ban in Murphy v. NCAA on May 14, 2018, which moved the question to the states. The first statutory bill, H.5277 (Herbkersman and Rutherford), came on April 21, 2022. H.3749 (2023), from Murphy and 11 cosponsors, paired online sports and equine wagering and went to Ways and Means. Every one of these bills died in committee.

Other gambling bills in the 2025 to 2026 session got further than sports betting did. H.4176, a bill for casinos in counties along I-95, got a favorable Ways and Means report on April 30, 2025, was debated on the House floor and was recommitted on January 28, 2026. S.344, the Equine Advancement Act, which would allow pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing, got a favorable report with amendments from Senate Finance on March 18, 2026. Neither became law.

Sports betting court cases in South Carolina

Video poker: Joytime and Johnson v. Collins

Joytime Distributors and Amusement Co. v. State (S.C. Supreme Court, Opinion No. 25007) was heard on October 12, 1999 and decided two days later. The court held that Part II of Act 125, the statewide referendum, was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power, and that it could be severed from the rest of the act, so the ban took effect on July 1, 2000. In Johnson v. Collins Entertainment Co. (4th Cir. Nos. 98-2225, 99-1601 and 99-1709, decided December 27, 1999), players had won a federal injunction against machine operators under state law. The Fourth Circuit vacated it and held that the district court should have abstained under Burford v. Sun Oil Co., because the case interfered with the state's gambling regulation.

Catawba Indian Nation v. State

The tribe sued in 2005, arguing that the settlement froze its right to video poker as of 1993. In Catawba Indian Tribe v. State, 372 S.C. 519 (2007), the Supreme Court held that the right follows current state law, so the 2000 ban applied on the reservation. The tribe sued again in Richland County on January 24, 2012, arguing that the Gambling Cruise Act of 2005 had authorized gambling devices. In Catawba Indian Nation v. State (Opinion No. 27374, heard January 22, 2014, filed April 2, 2014), the court held that the second suit wasn't barred by res judicata but that the cruise law doesn't authorize video poker on the reservation.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians challenged the Kings Mountain trust decision in federal court in Washington (D.D.C. No. 1:20-cv-00757). Judge James Boasberg granted summary judgment to the government on April 16, 2021. Congress ratified the trust acquisition in the Catawba Indian Nation Lands Act, signed December 27, 2021, and the appeals were dismissed in January 2022.

South Carolina Gambling Recovery LLC v. Kalshi Inc.

South Carolina Gambling Recovery, a Delaware company, sued in the Oconee County Court of Common Pleas on June 11, 2025 (No. 2025CP3700563) under Sections 32-1-10 and 32-1-20, the state's version of the Statute of Anne, which lets any person sue for losses a bettor doesn't recover within three months. It named Kalshi, Robinhood, Webull and Susquehanna entities. The defendants removed the case on October 7, 2025 to federal court in Anderson, and the two removal dockets were consolidated as D.S.C. No. 8:25-cv-12859 on October 10. The plaintiff moved to remand on November 6, 2025; we found no ruling on that motion. On May 22, 2026 the plaintiff dropped Robinhood and Webull. Judge Bruce Howe Hendricks granted an unopposed six-month stay of all proceedings on June 26, 2026, with a status report due by December 31, 2026. The case was reassigned to Judge Sheria Akins Clarke on July 2, 2026. We have no record of activity in the case after late July.

South Carolina Gambling Recovery LLC v. Underdog Sports Holdings

The same plaintiff filed a second Oconee County suit in 2025 against daily fantasy pick'em apps (Underdog, PrizePicks, Betr, Sleeper and Dabble) and sweepstakes casino operators (VGW's LuckyLand, Blazesoft's Zula and High 5 Games). A visiting circuit judge heard the defendants' motion to sever on May 29, 2026. VGW removed the case on June 2, 2026 (D.S.C. No. 8:26-cv-02182, Judge Clarke). By late July, motions to remand, to compel arbitration, to dismiss and to sever had been fully briefed. We couldn't confirm whether the court has ruled on any of them.

Hughes v. DraftKings

James M. Hughes, a Charleston County resident represented by Motley Rice, sued on July 29, 2026 in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas (No. 2026-CP-10-04063) under Section 32-1-20. He names Polymarket, DraftKings Predictions, CME, North American Derivatives Exchange (Crypto.com) and market makers including Wintermute and Virtu, and his complaint says he never bet with them himself. The defendants removed the case on September 2, 2026 (D.S.C. No. 2:26-cv-03838, Judge Richard Mark Gergel). We found no ruling after the removal, though our check of the docket wasn't complete.

Federal appeals that reach South Carolina

South Carolina is in the Fourth Circuit, which heard argument in KalshiEX LLC v. Martin (No. 25-1892), Kalshi's challenge to Maryland's gaming law, on May 7, 2026. We found no decision as of September 27, 2026. Attorney General Alan Wilson signed the December 22, 2025 brief of 38 states and D.C. backing Maryland and the March 10, 2026 multistate brief in the Ninth Circuit. The Third Circuit ruled for Kalshi in KalshiEX v. Flaherty on April 6, 2026, and New Jersey's petition is pending at the Supreme Court (No. 26-299), with a response due November 9. The Ninth Circuit ruled against Kalshi in KalshiEX v. Assad on August 28, 2026, and the Sixth Circuit did the same in KalshiEX v. Schuler on September 25, 2026. None of those rulings binds South Carolina.

Prediction markets and daily fantasy

Sports event contracts are offered in South Carolina through CFTC-regulated platforms, among them Kalshi, Polymarket and Novig. Novig (Ludlow Exchange, LLC, designated a contract market on June 16, 2026) lists Nevada, Arizona and Michigan as its excluded states and requires users to be 21 with ID. The state hasn't sued or sent a cease-and-desist letter that we found. In November 2025 a spokesman for Gov. McMaster told the Post and Courier that prediction markets are "no different than any other form of sports betting" and that people facilitating them "can be arrested and subject to criminal action." A spokesman for Attorney General Wilson said then that no action had been filed. The only cases we found are the private suits above.

We found no South Carolina statute on daily fantasy sports and no Attorney General opinion on it. In 2015 the Attorney General's office said it had received no complaints and no requests for an opinion. Pick'em apps operate in the state, and the Underdog suit is the only challenge to them we found.

Help with a gambling problem

S.C. Gambling Helpline: 1-877-452-5155.

Sources

Common questions

How we track and verify state laws

What does Legal Sportsbooks US track?

Every state's legal status, the date betting became legal, the minimum age, the regulator and the licensed apps, plus the legal history and court cases behind them, for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Our page on how we track and verify state laws explains the details.

What do the statuses mean?

Online and retail means licensed mobile apps and in-person sportsbooks both operate. Online only means betting happens through licensed apps, with no retail sportsbooks. Retail only means you can bet in person at licensed venues, but there's no statewide app. Not legal means no licensed sportsbooks operate. Legislation pending means a bill or ballot measure is moving, but betting hasn't launched. Not yet verified means we haven't confirmed the state's current status.

Can I bet on sports where I live?

The rules follow where you are when you place the bet. Licensed apps use geolocation to confirm you're inside a state where they can operate, and some states limit betting to certain premises. Find your state in the state index, or read our guide to location rules.

How old do you have to be to bet on sports?

It's 21 in 33 of the 40 jurisdictions with legal sports betting and 18 in five: Washington, D.C., Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Wyoming. In North Dakota and Washington, the tribal casino sets the age.

How current is the tracker?

State laws and licenses change, so every state entry records the date it was last verified. If a status looks out of date, the state regulator's website has the official answer.

Is this legal advice?

No. We summarize public information about state sports betting laws. Confirm the rules with your state regulator before you bet, and don't wager more than you can afford to lose.