With so many folks in Alabama looking to bet on their beloved Crimson Tide this coming College Football season, we ask if Bovada is legal in their state.  The answer is a resounding YES and, even better, there are many other top online sportsbooks accessible from Alabama.

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Bovada Legality

The Bovada website is licensed in the Caribbean island online gambling hub nation of Antigua.  That company's stance is simple: If sports betting is legal in the United States (which it currently is) and they are operating from a jurisdiction that allows bet taking, then Bovada itself is legal.  All wagers are taking place in Antigua online via the servers.  Only in states such as Washington where online gambling is explicitly "illegal" could this theory be challenged, according to a vast number of licensed offshore operators.  Even in Washington, the law primarily applies to the individual placing a wager online.  As not to endanger customers, some offshore operators have opted to pull out of the Washington market.  Sports bettors should always refer to the Gambling911.com Endorsed Sportsbook list of licensed operators, which is not all-inclusive as there are licensed sportsbooks that are not currently advertising partners of this website.  All ad partners must be licensed.

Prospects of Sports Betting in Alabama

The state itself does not intend to license in-state run sportsbooks any time soon following a landmark decision by the US Supreme Court, though legislation had been introduced in early 2019.

HB315 was introduced in early April.  It would have created the Alabama Sports Wagering Commission, tax gross revenue at a rate of 10% and allow for seven available licenses to be doled out.

While the bill has until June to pass, the appetite for sports betting in Alabama is nominal, if it all.  This is a stark contrast to the amount of betting done with stateside bookies and offshore sportsbooks during College Football.  Alabama has never been a pro-gambling state, unlike its neighbor to the west Mississippi.

The Crimson Tide Outlook 2020

From ESPN.com:

New Bama and the new SEC West

The first and last years of the 2010s were Nick Saban's worst of the decade at Alabama. That is, of course, relatively speaking -- both 2010 and 2019 resulted in double-digit wins and (likely) top-10 finishes. But in the wake of Bama's 11-2 season, it's worth noting what happened the last time the Tide faced this level of oh-so-embarrassing failure.

The 2010 season was perhaps the last time Saban had a defense as inexperienced as his injury-riddled 2019 unit. That year, there wasn't a single senior among Bama's top 14 tacklers, and freshmen like C.J. Mosley and DeMarcus Milliner played key roles. Predictably, there were key breakdowns in each of their three losses (to South Carolina, LSU and Auburn).
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Just as predictably, those errors dried up with experience.

The 2011 Tide had new starters at quarterback and running back, but there was enough raw talent to still play at a high level (13th in offensive SP+), while the experienced D surged from seventh to first in defensive SP+.

No matter who from Bama's 2019 offense ends up following Tagovailoa to the NFL, we know there will again be loads of raw talent. We also know that Bama ended up fourth in defensive SP+ this year despite the scads of freshmen and sophomores playing key roles in the front seven, and that the experience levels will be higher here, especially with the announced return of injured star linebacker Dylan Moses.

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com