is sports betting legal in alabama?
No. While there has been a lot of progress toward sports betting becoming legal in Alabama, ultimately efforts by lawmakers fail annually. Most recently, the Alabama house and senate couldn’t come to a compromise so 2025 would be a best case scenario for legalized sports betting in The Yellowhammer State.
While Alabama sports bettors aren’t able to download a legal mobile sports betting app, they can place wagers on Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) providers like FanDuel because DFS contests were legalized in 2019.
alabama quick facts
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Launch Date: Not Legalized
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Legal Betting Age: n/a
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Online Sports Betting: No
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Online Casino Sites: No
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Online Poker Sites: No
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Best Available Sportsbook: N/A
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Regulatory Body: American Gaming Association
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Legal online sportsbooks: 0
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College Sports Betting: No
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Political or entertainment betting: No
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High School sports Betting: No
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Esports betting: No
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NFL Draft: No
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Remote registration: No
Timeline of Betting legislation & latest news
Alabama lawmakers have tried to make legal sports betting a reality, but they’ve failed several times. The most recent failure happened in May of 2024 when the senate and house couldn’t agree on sports betting language. The house was in favor of sports betting while the senate wasn’t. In 2021, the senate was the chamber trying to push sports betting, when the house wasn’t as interested. The best Alabama sports bettors can hope for now is a potential 2025 sports betting bill.
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April 2, 2019
House Bill 315 is written to legalize sports betting in Alabama, but it’s not passed in the house or senate.
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february 27, 2020
House Bill 336 is introduced. The bill would have allowed in-person and online sports betting Alabama, but it fails to gain lawmaker approval.
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March 9, 2021
Senate Bill 319 is introduced to allow in-person sports betting and online casino games. The bill is successful in the senate, but doesn’t pass the house.
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february 15, 2024
The Alabama House of Representatives passes sports betting and gambling bills HB 151 and HB 152
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april 5, 2024
The Alabama Senate’s proposed plan which doesn’t allow sports betting is nixed by the Alabama House creating a situation where the House wants legalized sports betting and the senate doesn’t. The bill is sent to a conference committee to work on a compromise.
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may 1, 2024
The conference committee meeting to help lawmakers resolve differences over the future of gaming in Alabama convenes and doesn’t insert provisions into law that would have helped legalize sports betting in Alabama. The best those advocating for sports betting in Alabama can hope for now is a 2025 start date.
how to start betting in alabama
Alabama is home to several casinos in cities like Birmingham, Montgomery, and Shorter but you won’t find sports betting there. Unfortunately, sports betting isn’t legal in Alabama, but consider bookmarking this page and checking back for updates because once legalized sports betting becomes a thing in Alabama, this section will walk you through step-by-step how to sign up for a sportsbook.
For now, anyone wanting to wager on sports in Alabama must travel to the neighboring states of Tennessee, Florida, or Mississippi.
Daily fantasy sports in alabama
While sports betting isn't legal in Alabama, sports fans over 18 years old in the state can wager on Daily Fantasy Sports. Alabama officially legalized DFS contest websites like FanDuel in 2019, so you can earn winnings while watching your favorite teams in action. That means you can’t bet on the Atlanta Falcons point spread, but you can win money betting on a roster full of Falcons players.
home field advantage
Alabama is home to three minor league baseball teams, but it doesn’t house any professional sports franchises. The University of Alabama, affectionately known as ‘Bama, and Auburn make up the Iron Bowl rivalry which is one of the best in college football. When it comes to professional sports, fans in Alabama often root for sports teams in Atlanta, GA.
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NFL – Atlanta Falcons: The “Dirty Birds” have missed the playoffs the last six years, but fans in Atlanta are hopeful that Kirk Cousins can end that trend and get the Falcons back to their first Super Bowl since 2016. Atlanta hasn’t had a winning season since 2017 when Matt Ryan was still the quarterback. Some iconic NFL stars have come out of Atlanta including Deion Sanders, Julio Jones, and Michael Vick.
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NBA – Atlanta Hawks: The Hawks have made the playoffs in 13 of the last 17 seasons and head coach Quin Snyder is hoping to add a few more appearances to the franchise’s resume. Dominique Wilkins, an Atlanta legend, was recognized as one of the NBA’s 75 greatest players and the Hawks have a storied history, but they’ve not won a championship since the 1957-58 season.
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MLB – Atlanta Braves: It’s tough to think of the Braves and not think about their dominant pitching staff in the 1990s consisting of Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. The Braves are proud owners of four World Series trophies, with the most recent coming in 2021. Atlanta has made the playoffs in each of the past seven seasons and they have a roster to keep that momentum going for many years to come.
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NCAA – University of Alabama: The Crimson Tide are best known for their elite play on the gridiron as they appeared in the National Championship game six out of seven years between 2015-2021. Alabama turned those appearances into three National Titles giving them six since 2009. Nick Saban has come and gone, but Alabama figures to be one of the best teams in the country for many years to come. While Alabama is known more as a football school, its men’s basketball team was ranked in the top-10 of the AP poll in each of the last four seasons.
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NCAA – Auburn University: Auburn is known as the other half of the Iron Bowl rivalry with Alabama. Auburn hasn’t had Alabama’s championship success recently, but its football program has a rich history that includes Heisman Trophy Winners Cam Newton (2010), Bo Jackson (1985), and Pat Sullivan (1971). Auburn’s last winning season came in 2019 and their last Bowl win was in the Music City Bowl in 2018.
USA Betting News
The Alabama Council on Compulsive Gambling strives to help citizens of Alabama with gambling and gaming problems. Their website contains resources to help you identify the signs and symptoms of a gambling problem and prominently features the National Gambling Hotline phone number (1-800-GAMBLER) and a 24/7 chat option. The website also hab “Find a Counselor” resources located in their “Contact Us” section.