South Carolina state Rep. Russell Ott has sponsored a bill allowing legal betting on horseraces online. Revenue would be taxed at 10 percent and money raised would support the horse industry in the state. Betting would be limited to three online apps. Gamblers would be required to create and deposit money into an account before they could place a bet. The bill also was filed in the Senate.
Ott said, “We are not talking about opening casinos. We’re not talking about different forms of brick-and-mortar or bookies or even walking up to a teller at a horserace and placing a bet.”
He added, the state would select who “operates these different types of activities on your mobile device, where folks can go in the privacy of their home and place wagers on races across the country.”
Ott acknowledged getting the legislation passed will be a challenge. South Carolina did not allow school raffles and church cakewalks until 2015. But he stressed his bill does not “open up gambling like the wild, wild west.”
State Senator Katrina Shealy, the Senate sponsor, said South Carolinians already are wagering online.
“It’s technically illegal,” she points out, “but a lot of people are doing it. People who are going to gamble are going to gamble.” She noted revenue from online horserace wagering would go toward a “legitimate good cause.”
The legislation would establish a seven-member commission that would license and regulate up to three sports betting companies. The commission would distribute the state’s share of the winnings to applicants to support
public equestrian trails, college equestrian sports and veterinarian programs, equine therapy programs for veterans and troubled teens and inmate groomer-training programs, among possibilities. Other uses for the funds include incentives for owners to keep their horses in South Carolina.
A House-Senate committee studied the state’s equine industry before writing the measure. Ott, who served on the committee, said, “We have a very proud history of horse ownership and horseracing in the state of South Carolina. But unfortunately, we have lost ground to other states that have been able to offer incentives to their different communities through raising revenue through things like advance deposit wagering.”
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, who’s long advocated for legalizing sports betting, said it’s about personal freedom.
Observers said if the bill passes, it’s likely to be vetoed by Governor Henry McMaster, who in 2000 opposed the creation of a state lottery.
