A South Carolina bill that would allow for statewide online sports betting and was carried over from 2025 was scheduled Friday for a hearing the Senate Labor & Commerce Subcommittee Feb. 18. This is the first bill to legalize online sports betting anywhere in the U.S. to get a hearing in 2026. S 444, first filed March 12, 2025, would allow for statewide mobile sports betting on college and professional sports, impose a 12.5% tax on adjusted gross revenue, and set the minimum age to bet at 18.
South Carolina’s bill would limit the number of digital platforms to eight, and appears to only allow for online sports betting, not retail sportsbooks. A new sports wagering commission would be created to oversee sports betting.
South Carolina is one 20 U.S. states that has not legalized online sports betting. Lawmakers have struggled to move gambling legislation, in part because they have lacked consensus, but also due to heavy opposition from faith-based and anti-gambling groups.
There is no crossover deadline in the legislature this year, and the session is set to run until May 7.
NJ lawmakers busy
That bill headlines a busy week in state legislatures across the U.S., where the trend seems to be finding ways to limit sports betting in states where it is already legal. Lawmakers in New Jersey were particularly active, and continue to propose tweaks to the state’s sports betting and online gaming laws. A trio of new bills that would create account limits, ban operators from sending promotional information to those using responsible gambling tools, and establish a kind of whistleblower hotline were filed.
Lawmakers in New Jersey are already considering a bill that would ban proposition betting, in addition to several online casino proposals, including one that would regulate sweepstakes platforms rather than ban them as other states have done.
SB 3200, filed Wednesday, would be create a first-of-its kind law and situation, where a state opens a dedicated tip line for consumers to report suspicious activity that could affect the integrity of a game. According to the summary, anyone found to be tampering with integrity would be banned from betting. The proposal would also ban certain types of advertising, and would require the use of independent integrity monitors.
New Jersey was among the first states to go live with legal sports betting and online gambling after it won its case in the Supreme Court that overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2018. Since then, the law and regulations have evolved, but this year’s set of bills reflects what appears to be a deeper commitment to consumer protection.
The legislature is in session year-round, but bills from 2026 cannot carry over to 2027.
In other news …
Here’s a look at activity on some other active bills:
Maine: The Senate Committee on Veterans and Legal Affairs in early January concurred on LD 2080, a bill that would ban funding online sports betting accounts with credit cards. According to a Jan. 22 press release from the Maine House Democrats, an amendment to include online casino in the bill will be added when the committee schedules a work session.
The updated language in the proposal adds a definition for digital wallet — “any digital or electronic technology that stores a person’s financial information and allows that person to purchase goods and
services.” The bill also lists permisible funding options, which include debit cards, wire transfers, and cash. Gift cards not purchased via credit cards may be used, and digital wallets with credit-card deposits walled off are also allowed.
Maine’s legislative session runs through April 15, and bills may not be carried over to 2027.
Maryland: A bill filed Tuesday would prohibit college-player proposition bets, in addition to other changes to the current betting law. HB 518 is set for a hearing in the House Ways and Means Committee Feb. 12 at 1 p.m. ET. The proposal would also require the state to have a voluntary exclusion list for those “who have been requested to be excluded from the state lottery,” as well as provide an accessible way to the join the list. The lottery commission would then have to provide contact information for self-excluded bettors to the Maryland Center for Excellence on Gambling, unless the gambler doesn’t want the information shared. The bill would also create a voluntary exclusion list for daily fantasy contest players.
In addition, HB 518 would raise the minimum age for DFS players from 18 to 21, but only for accounts created after July 1, 2026, or when the bill, should it pass, goes into effect. Maryland’s legislature runs through April 13, and the House crossover deadline is Feb. 13.
Oklahoma: There’s been plenty of talk about legalizing wagering in Oklahoma, where the legislative session opens Tuesday, but the deadline for introducing a new bill has already passed. There are several bills that did not get off the Senate floor last year still circulating in Oklahoma City, or lawmakers could amend or strip an existing bill — whether or not it has to do with gambling. That said, the relationship between Gov. Kevin Stitt and the state’s tribes, which have exclusivity for Class III gaming, is strained. Representatives from Indian Country have said they will wait until after Stitt term-limits out next year to move legislation, and Stitt has vowed to veto any proposals that put the tribes in charge.
The state’s legislative session runs through May 29.
Tennessee: HB 1768 and SB 1831, both filed Jan. 22, would ban online sports betting on college campuses, in addition to prohibiting online betting at stadiums at which college teams are playing on game days. The proposal would require places of higher education to restrict online access to sports betting platforms on campus. The House bill has been referred to the State & Local Government Committee – Education Committee, Departments, and Agencies Subcommittee while the Senate bill does not yet have a committee assignment.
The Tennessee state legislature is set to adjourn April 24, and there is no crossover deadline.
Utah: The state already has a prohibition on gambling in place, but Rep. Joseph Elison filed HB 243, which Jan. 22 was referred to the Economic Development and Workforce Services Committee. The bill defines proposition betting as a kind of gambling which would explicitly be banned if added to current state law. No hearing date has been set, and the legislature’s crossover deadline is March 3.
Virginia: The state is the second this session in which lawmakers have proposed to expand betting rather than further limit it. HB 1527, filed Thursday, would remove the prohibition on allowing bets on in-state college sports. The bill would allow betting on Division I Virginia-based college sports, an activity currently banned in the state. Bill sponsor Del. Garrett McGuire goes a step further, as he proposes an increased tax rate for bets placed on Virginia college teams — 50% as compared to the statewide 15% imposed on sports betting.
While operators pay different taxes based on where bets are placed in Illinois, which Jan. 1 implemented a new tax for bets placed in the city of Chicago, no state currently taxes individual betting markets at different rates.
Virginia’s legislative session ends March 14, and the crossover deadline is Feb. 17.
