FITSNEWS: SC Ready To Roll The Dice On Legalizing Gambling
This Column Originally Appeared in FITSNews
Byline: Dustin Olson
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With summer winding down, football fever is in full force. South Carolinians are crazy about the sport, with lots of folks counting down the days until the 2025 season kicks off.
There’s another tradition many fans will also be following. Once it begins, they will jump into their cars and trucks and cross the state line to North Carolina, where it’s legal to bet on sporting events.
That means Palmetto State cash flows into the neighboring Tar Heel state due to South Carolina’s ban on gambling.
But is public opinion changing on the south side of the state line? A new poll shows the answer is a resounding, “Yes!”
Attitudes about wagering have evolved in recent years. They began shifting on Jan. 31, 2010, when the South Carolina Education Lottery participated in its very first multi-state Powerball drawing. From that moment until FY 2023-24, it has transferred an estimated $6.8 billion to education. It’s likely the public’s embrace of that program is helping to fuel a desire to see state restrictions on other types of gaming eased.
My company, American Pulse Research & Polling, surveyed 570 likely South Carolina Republican Primary voters between July 16 and 19. Most attention focused on the poll showing Attorney General Alan Wilson narrowly leading Congresswoman Nancy Mace in the race for governor, but the most surprising findings came from two questions we asked on gambling...