CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Sports betting apps like Prize Picks, DraftKings, and FanDuel have made it easy for bettors in 38 states, including North Carolina, to bet anywhere like your car.

But if you were to drive south and cross over into the Palmetto state—you wouldn’t be able to make a bet on anything. One South Carolina lawmaker is hoping to change that with another push to legalize sports gambling.

“It’s one of those bills that is a revenue generator for the state, a very significant source of revenue,” says Dorchester Republican representative Chris Murphy.

This would be the third attempt at legalizing betting in South Carolina. Murphy says his reason for bringing it back up—money and momentum. He believes his college and professional sports gambling bill would generate at least $100 million in revenue for the state—80% of that would go to the general state fund.

“The fact of the matter is, it’s taking place right now illegally,” Murphy says.

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Murphy’s bill will mirror North Carolina and Tennessee, two recent states to come into the gambling world.

Of the 38 states participating in the gambling world, they’ve brought in more than 2.5 billion dollars in tax revenue from an industry that generates $11 billion in revenue. Regardless, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster does not support any sports gambling bill.

“It’s interesting to note that when North Carolina’s legislation went live,  there were over a million bets, attempted to be placed in South Carolina on the North Carolina apps. So it just shows you that there that it is happening,” Murphy said.

Right now, bettors can legally bet on fantasy football on apps in South Carolina. Murphy still plans to add a sports gaming component and a fantasy sports component to the legislation.

“They came to me and wanted to be included in the legislation that I’ve been proposing because they want to be regulated and they want to keep the bad actors out,” Murphy said.

Drew Pechulonis supports the initiative, even writing a dissertation for a class at the University of South Carolina on the subject. In his paper, he suggests implementing a tax on gaming companies to help push the bill across the finish line.

“Just to encourage competition. The last thing that politicians want to do is raise taxes on their constituents. And so, they’re always looking for new revenue streams. South Carolina has a huge pension fund deficit. They’re pretty far behind on education in the country. The infrastructure is not as good as the surrounding states. It’s important for them to start looking at some other options to increase their tax revenue,” said Pechulonis.

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The College Football National Championship Trophy is on its tour across the country during college football season. One of its stops was in Charlotte at the Walmart on Pineville Matthews Road, just a few miles from the South Carolina border.

Shoppers had the opportunity to take pictures with the national championship trophy and talk about what sports betting has been like since North Carolina adopted gambling. It’d help college and professional football fans like these.

“Once everybody started doing it, I was kind of like ‘Hey, this is something fun to do.’ And definitely I know people who were on vacation in South Carolina and couldn’t get even though they’re from North Carolina while they were over there and they felt like they were missing out. And so it’s just something fun to be a part of. I’m betting on it for this week at Duke’s Mayo Classic and for NC State to win,” said North Carolina State and UNC Charlotte Alumuna Annie Turk.

Murphy says there won’t be a horse racing component to his bill. There will be a piece in the bill that sets aside money to help those who may have gambling addiction issues.

He plans to file the bill after the election.

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A lawyer representing the first death row inmate likely to be executed in South Carolina since 2011 has decided that he should die by lethal injection after the prisoner refused to choose between three different killing methods, saying that to do so would be “akin to suicide”.

Freddie Owens is now set to be executed using a fatal dose of the sedative pentobarbital. The prisoner had been given until Friday to decide between the three execution methods: lethal injection, the electric chair and the firing squad.

Owens had joined other death row inmates in objecting to both the electric chair and firing squad as cruel and unusual forms of punishment banned under the US constitution. He had also objected to signing the form that would decide between the three techniques on grounds that to do so would mean he were participating in his own killing – equivalent to suicide, he said, which is forbidden by his Muslim faith.

In the absence of a decision from the prisoner himself, Owens’ defense lawyer, Emily Paavola, to whom he had granted power of attorney, stepped in. She knew that if she failed to meet the Friday deadline, South Carolina would by default kill her client by electrocution; in that invidious position, she opted instead for lethal injection.

In a statement, Paavola said: “I have known Mr Owens for 15 years. Under the circumstances, and in light of the information currently available to me, I made the best decision I felt I could make on his behalf.”

Owens was sentenced to capital punishment for the 1999 murder of a petrol station worker, Irene Graves, during a string of robberies. He is the first of five prisoners who have exhausted all their appeals and now face execution after a period of 13 years in which the state’s death chamber has gone unused.

Much of that delay was caused by the difficulty South Carolina has had in procuring lethal injection drugs, given a global boycott by pharmaceutical companies unhappy with their medical products being used to kill people. The state has adopted tight secrecy laws that prevent the public from knowing where it is obtaining its lethal drugs.

Owens’ defense team is now hoping that it can delay the pending execution through last-ditch legal challenges. The lawyers are protesting that the state has provided insufficient information about the quality of the pentobarbital it plans to use, arguing that there could be dire consequences for the prisoner should the drug be faulty or ineffective.

His attorneys are also asking for the execution to be postponed to give more time for new evidence to be considered in his case. In a motion lodged with the state’s supreme court, they argue that a plea deal that was offered to Owens’ co-defendant has come to light that puts his conviction in doubt.

Steven Golden, Owens’ friend who was involved in the robbery, was the only eyewitness to the murder, and there is no other forensic evidence. The motion says that Golden was offered a plea deal whereby he would avoid the death penalty or life in prison without parole if he testified against his friend – a crucial detail that was withheld from Owens’ lawyers at trial.

South Carolina is only one day away from kicking off SEC play against a familiar conference foe. The Gamecocks will travel to Lexington to face the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC, and the offensive player projections are out, according to PrizePicks.

This is shaping up to be a massive, early season game for both sides. The stakes are higher than ever, with each program looking to get off to a good start in conference play.

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South Carolina comes into this matchup fresh off a 23-19 win over Old Dominion in Columbia. It was a great day for the defense with four turnovers and five sacks. However, the offense could never get into a rhythm, specifically in the passing game. Though, the Gamecocks did end up rushing for 174 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.

Meanwhile, Kentucky dealt with a pair of lightning delays that ultimately shut its opener down with 9:56 left in the third quarter. But the Wildcats did manage to cruise to a 31-0 win over Southern Miss. New starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns in his team debut on Saturday.

Before the game gets rolling, here’s a full look at each offensive player projections for the Gamecocks from PrizePicks with some added thoughts.

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Pass Yards: 169.5

Rush Yards: 30.5

Pass+Rush Yards: 205.5

With his first college start out of the way, there’s reason to believe Sellers should be more comfortable and know what to expect. At the same time, he hasn’t made a road start before, let alone in the SEC. He had a tendency to rely on his feet to do some of the work last Saturday, rushing 22 times for 68 yards and a touchdown. If Kentucky brings pressure, this will either force him to throw more or take sacks if he looks to run. So it’s tough to say what’s the best play. If it comes down to it, I’d say to trust what he does on the ground. Even if he throws the ball more often, he’s still going to take off and run sometimes. 30.5 rushing yards feels like a good number he can surpass. There’s also just a lot of question marks at wide receiver to where it feels hard to see him having more than the listed projection in pass yards.

Rush yards: 52.5

South Carolina was so run-heavy in Week 1. How much is that going to change this weekend? Shane Beamer and Dowell Loggains have made it abundantly clear they would like to have more explosive plays in the passing game. But it’s easier said than done. It’s not like everything is going to change overnight and the offense turns into an elite passing unit. Either way, Sanders is going to get his touches. If he gets some space, he’s going to take it and run for good chunks of yards. Plus, he’s not on any sort of pitch count as he played 64 snaps last weekend. This feels like a clear more for yardage. And if you’re feeling good about Sanders, he also has a demon listing for more than 0.5 Rush+Rec TDs. If the Gamecocks get within goal line distance, he’s more likely than not going to be fed the ball.

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Receiving Yards: 22.5

In his South Carolina debut, Jacobs totaled two catches for 59 yards with a game-high long of 41. If he creates separation and has room to move, he’s going to turn a medium pass into a long gain. As mentioned earlier, Sellers still doesn’t have a true No. 1 receiver to throw to in the passing game. If he does end up throwing the ball more like his coaches want him to, he’s going to need a reliable pass catcher on the other end. Jacobs could certainly be that guy. But if the offense is more of what we saw last week with a focus on the run game, Jacobs would need some long plays to finish with more than the projection.

Receiving Yards: 26.5

Much like what I said about Jacobs, it really comes down to what South Carolina decides to do as an offense. This looks like a favorable projection if Sellers is using his arm more. But when Brown did get his opportunity to rack up big yards last time out, he dropped a 50-plus yard bomb that was right in his hands. He didn’t finish with any catches. Earlier in the week, Brown said he lost focus on that play and makes those plays “100 times in practice.” It wouldn’t take much to see him go for more than the projection. But with how limited his opportunities were in the receiving game, this might be tough to roll with.

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Kicking Points: 5.5

Because of how much South Carolina’s offense struggled against ODU, Alex Herrera was called on quite a bit. And he delivered most of the time, making three of his four field goal attempts. This game could be more of a challenge with Kentucky’s defense and the fact it’s on the road. It’s still very early in Herrera’s playing time since this is his first season as the starter. If the Gamecocks can consistently get into Wildcat territory, I would feel great about this projection. That’s really what it comes down to. But if you don’t like the idea of him kicking in a hostile environment, this might be a harder choice to make. There just isn’t enough to go off of to prove whether or not he can do it. Then again, all it takes is two chip shot field goals and you’ll be golden.