Alabama Betting

There is no legal sports betting in Alabama, online or in person, and there is no statewide gaming regulator that could license one. Alabama also has no state lottery, because the constitution forbids the legislature from authorising one. What does exist is pari-mutuel horse and greyhound wagering at racetracks licensed by local racing commissions rather than by the state, with a minimum age of 19 — and that wagering has to happen at the facility, because nothing in Alabama law authorises a wagering account.

The Gambling Offences

Alabama grades gambling by role. Code of Alabama §13A-12-21 provides that "A person commits the crime of simple gambling if he knowingly advances or profits from unlawful gambling activity as a player", and that "Simple gambling is a Class C misdemeanor". Section 13A-12-22 covers the other side of the counter: "A person commits the crime of promoting gambling if he knowingly advances or profits from unlawful gambling activity otherwise than as a player", and "Promoting gambling is a Class A misdemeanor".

The definitions in §13A-12-20 are what make a sportsbook fit. Gambling is defined as staking or risking "something of value upon the outcome of a contest of chance or a future contingent event not under his control or influence, upon an agreement or understanding that he or someone else will receive something of value in the event of a certain outcome". Bookmaking is "Advancing gambling activity by unlawfully accepting bets from members of the public as a business, rather than in a casual or personal fashion, upon the outcome of future contingent events". The same section then defines "UNLAWFUL" as "Not specifically authorized by law" — which is the hinge of the whole analysis, because sports wagering is authorised nowhere in Alabama law.

What Is Lawful

Racing is the exception, and §13A-12-31 preserves it in terms: "The provisions of this article shall not apply to pari-mutuel betting at race meetings authorized by statute."

Alabama is unusual in having no state racing commission at all. Title 11, Chapter 65 instead lets a Class 1 municipality incorporate one of its own:

"Any commission created for any sponsoring municipality pursuant to the provisions of this chapter shall be named 'The ______ (the name of the sponsoring municipality shall be inserted in the blank) Racing Commission' and shall be a public corporation having a legal existence separate and apart from the state and any county, municipality, or political subdivision thereof." — Code of Ala. §11-65-3, Code of Alabama

Title 45 carries the parallel local chapters for Greene, Macon and Mobile counties. Section 11-65-28(a) requires an operator to "provide a place or places at the racing facility operated by it at which such operator shall conduct a pari-mutuel system of wagering by its patrons on the results of horse races or greyhound races", and §11-65-32 and §11-65-32.1 permit televised races to be made available for public viewing and pari-mutuel wagering at a racetrack — that is, at a venue, not on a phone. Which Alabama tracks currently hold licences and are operating could not be verified from a state source for this page, so none is named.

There is no advance-deposit wagering. A full-text search of the Code of Alabama for the phrase "account wagering", run through the Legislature's own public service, returns zero results. And §11-65-37 makes any wagering on a race other than "pari-mutuel wagering conducted by an operator in accordance with the provisions of this chapter" a misdemeanour punishable by "a fine of not less than $1,000.00, nor more than $10,000.00, or imprisonment of not less than ten days nor more than six months, or both". The minimum age is set by §11-65-44: "No person under 19 years of age shall be admitted to performances of horse racing or greyhound racing which are the subject of pari-mutuel wagering at any such racing facility, nor shall any person under 19 years of age be permitted to wager on any horse race or greyhound race conducted at such racing facility".

On the lottery, the constitution is categorical. Section 65 provides that "The legislature shall have no power to authorize lotteries or gift enterprises for any purposes, and shall pass laws to prohibit the sale in this state of lottery or gift enterprise tickets, or tickets in any scheme in the nature of a lottery".

What Is Pending

Nothing has passed. The 2024 package was a pair of bills rather than the single measure often cited: HB 151 and HB 152 of the 2024 Regular Session. HB 151 was the constitutional amendment, captioned "Proposed constitutional amendment; Alabama Gaming Commission, established to regulate, license, and tax certain limited forms of gaming activity and stop unlawful gaming activity", and HB 152 was the enabling bill, covering sports wagering among other things. Both are recorded in the Legislature's bill search as carried over, with no act number and no enrolled text. On 30 April 2024 the House adopted the conference committee report on HB 151 by 72 votes to 29; the Senate roll call on concurring in that report recorded 20 yeas and 15 nays, short of adoption. The House adopted the HB 152 report 70 to 29 and no corresponding Senate adoption appears in that bill's history.

Since then, HB 490 of the 2025 Regular Session, the Alabama Sports Wagering Control Act, is recorded as pending committee action in its house of origin. The 2026 Regular Session adjourned on 9 April 2026 with HB 448, HB 449 and SB 257 — lottery and gaming-commission measures — all still pending committee action, along with SB 18 and HB 262 on taxation of pari-mutuel and historical racing activity. Alabama has enacted no gaming legislation in 2024, 2025 or 2026.

Note which instrument the legislature itself reached for: a proposed constitutional amendment, which in Alabama has to be ratified by the voters. The gambling offences themselves are statutory, and the constitutional bar in Section 65 is about lotteries rather than about sports betting, but the practical route the legislature has chosen twice now runs through a statewide vote.

Prediction Markets

Nothing was found. The Attorney General's news index was checked on 7 October 2026 for Kalshi, Polymarket, prediction markets and event contracts and returned no match, and Alabama has no statewide gaming regulator that could issue a cease-and-desist in the first place. The grey-market status recorded here reflects that absence of state action rather than any permission.

One related gap worth stating plainly: whether any Alabama tribe holds a Class III gaming compact could not be established from a tribal gaming authority or federal source, so no claim is made about what class of gaming is offered on tribal land in the state.

Responsible Gambling

Alabama funds nothing that could be sourced. A search of the Department of Mental Health's site for gambling returns "Sorry, but nothing matched your search terms. Please try again with some different keywords." The number published in that department's page footer is its main switchboard, not a problem-gambling helpline, and there is no state lottery whose revenue could fund one. The finding here is an absence: there is no Alabama state helpline or state-funded problem-gambling council to name.