As surprising as it may be to hear, Alabama might be a favorite to introduce some form of gambling legislation next year.
A study, commissioned in February by Governor Kay Ivey, arrived on her desk on December 18. Despite her own professed opposition to gambling, the twelve-member study group concluded that the benefits of gambling to the state would outweigh the costs.
This doesn’t mean that we should expect to see a full slate of online and retail options such as we see in New Jersey or Pennsylvania. Rather, the most likely short-term outcome of the study is that Alabama will finally get a lottery. It is, at the moment, one of only five states which lacks one.
The study is a hefty document, weighing in at 876 pages. It covers the following topics in great detail: