Sports betting and the ongoing battle for legalization in Alabama continues to be one of the most significant public interest topics.

Sports Betting Alliance — which is a trade advocacy organization comprised of five of the largest bookmakers in the United States, including FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, Bet365 and Fanatics — has been a key player in the fight to bring regulated sports betting to the Yellowhammer State. 

CEO of the alliance, Joe Maloney, hopped on with “Longshore & McKnight” to discuss some more about the organization and where things stand in Alabama.

“No one is forcing anyone in the state to invent gambling. Gambling is already happening,” Maloney said when asked about the huge amount of unregulated illegal sports betting in Alabama. “You’re gonna be making a choice through your leadership throughout the state to hopefully enable this to regulate it, to tax it and to then take these revenues to dedicate them to some critical priorities that leadership in the jurisdiction across the state deem important.”

Maloney was asked for his best guess on what Alabama is missing out on annually in terms of tax revenue without legalized gambling, and the numbers he threw out were eye-opening.

“It’s tens of millions of dollars and potentially the construct around the taxation and the popularity of the product, you could be looking at even up to $100 million annually,” he said, before citing that North Carolina is generating $150 million in annual tax revenue from sports betting.

Maloney argued that the money in North Carolina is being used to address public health concerns, as well as bringing in entertainment related events to the state, which drive the local economy through tourism.

The Sports Betting Alliance will continue to be one of those pushing to get the issue back on the ballot, something which has not been the case for decades now despite its popularity.