Charles Barkley Says He Would Like to Own a Casino in Alabama

Charles Barkley, an Alabama native and an American basketball legend, has not shied away from making his intentions about a commercial casino in his home state public.

Barkley Says He Is Game on for Backing an Alabama Commercial Casino

Although Alabama does not allow commercial casinos to operate, Barkley used a recent opportunity to voice his support for a regulatory framework (in not so many words) that would make it possible and further noted that he would love to own a casino himself.

Barkley has been a passionate gambler throughout his entire life, and he has given rise to many rumors surrounding his antics in this particular hobby. However, whether he is ever the owner of a commercial casino in Alabama will ultimately depend on the state’s legislature.

Lawmakers have long been debating the matter, but there has been little political will and momentum to make this a possibility. A new effort to push through the changes necessary for commercial casinos is expected this year, although a bill has not yet been introduced for debate.

Commenting on the matter for an AL.com interview, Barkley simply responded “hell yeah” when asked if he would himself like to own or invest in a casino in the Cotton State. In a sense, Barkley has already had some experience in running and managing gambling establishments.

He admitted that his family had a casino and bootlegging operation when he was a child. Throughout life, Barkley has been known to gamble large amounts for pleasure as well, which eventually cost him an estimated $10 million, based on an interview with ESPN’s Trey Wingo in 2007. His actual losses since then are anyone’s guess.

However, Barkley has remained buoyant about his gambling, and while he acknowledged that on occasion, he would spend a little too much, he has mostly remained positive about the whole enterprise, insisting that he did not have a problem.

Gambling – A Bad Habit, Not a Problem

In one of his public criticisms of people suggesting that he was a “problem gambler,” he argued that being a drug addict or alcoholic were actual problems, but gambling for too much money the way he did – was not.

“Yes, it’s a bad habit. Am I going to continue to do it? Yes,” Barkley explained unapologetically in one such statement. However, Barkley’s gambling proclivity has little to do with whether Alabama will actually pass legislation that brings commercial casinos to the state.

However, Alabama is a Republican bastion with the Grand Old Party holding both the House and Senate, and the attitude towards lawmakers being one of antagonizing gambling in general.

Charles Barkley has been keen to retain his presence in the public eye, and he appeared in a FanDuel sports betting ad in 2023, part of his ambassadorship role with the sportsbook, which began in 2020.