What's Stopping Alabama From Legalizing Gambling?

Legalized gambling is a popular issue for Alabama voters. In early 2024, a KAConsulting poll showed 74% of respondents supported legalized gaming, while an Alabama Daily News-Gray survey found that 70% of Republican Primary had the same views.

So what's stopping gaming from being legalized in The Heart of Dixie? Mainly, it's political squabbles, but it's also thanks to the state's constitution.

Alabama's Constitutional Ban On Gaming

Section 65 of the Alabama Constitution bans lotteries and gift enterprises and is interpreted as an outright ban on gaming. Changing that is not easily done.

Per section 284 of the constitution, a constitutional amendment introduced in the House must be read three times and receive three-fifths of the votes before it's passed up to the Senate. From there, the Senate must also read the amendment three times, and if three-fifths of the Senate vote in favor of the amendment it can then be passed to a vote by the general public.

Last session a vote was close with legalized gambling bills passing through the House of Representatives, only for those bills to be stripped and gutted to the point of being unrecognizable. They eventually failed to pass by a single vote in Alabama's chamber of "sober second thought."

Is 2025 The Year?

The 2025 legislative session has begun with two bills tabled to address gaming; both are diametrically opposing bills, making the future of legalized gaming in Alabama all the more murky.

Representative Matthew Hammett introduced HB41 which would make lotteries and other forms of gambling criminal acts and would increase penalties for gambling-related crimes. Meanwhile, Representative Jim Hill's HB47 proposes a constitutional amendment allowing traditional paper raffles and bingo.

Both bills demonstrate the divide between both sides with one looking to ban it outright while the other is looking to make marginal gains in an industry that has seen neighboring states of Mississippi and Tennessee collect a combined $102 million in tax revenues in 2024 alone.

Unless both sides can come together and sort out their political differences, it looks unlikely that sports gambling will be legalized in Alabama this calendar year