Charles Barkley wants to make a bet.

If he had the opportunity to be part of an African American investment group that would own a majority stake in an Alabama casino, he’d be all in.

“Hell, yeah,” he told me this week. “I would love to be part of it.”

It might happen.

Sen. Greg Albritton, R-Atmore, is reportedly working on a gambling bill, and trying to corral the 21 Senate votes needed to reach a three-fifths majority for passage.

And Black lawmakers are calling for a provision for at least one casino with African American majority ownership, said Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro.

“I support gaming in the state 100%,” Singleton said Thursday. “I have been in conversation with the potential sponsor, and one of the things I’ve asked for in the bill for us to fully support it is some African American ownership — not just people working in the place. Because it’s my people who walk through those doors more frequently than anyone else, we should at least have some ownership so that we could also be good corporate citizens in our communities.”

Last year, a bill including a state lottery, casinos, sports betting, and a regulatory commission for gambling passed the Alabama House of Representatives. But a trimmed-down version failed by a single vote in the Senate.

Singleton said it would be “awesome” to have a casino in Birmingham with an ownership group that includes Barkley, the Auburn alum, basketball Hall of Famer and television commentator.

“Charles is a favorite in the state,” the senator said. “I would love to see a group with someone like Mr. Barkley get involved with others to have real ownership, a true 51% that belongs to us, and make sure we could build a destination spot here in the state and bring forth the fruits of that industry to our community.

Barkley also believes sports gambling should be part of any gambling bill proposal. “We need that money,” he said.

Sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. About $1.8 billion was tax revenue was collected in 2023, the Tax Foundation calculated.

Recently, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians, which currently operates casinos in resorts on tribal property in Atmore, Wetumpka, and Montgomery, said it would support a bill that includes casinos, a state lottery and sports gambling.

“You package those three components together in the right way, we believe that’s the way to bring the most revenue back to the state and the individual operators,” Arthur Mothershed, executive vice president of business development and government relations for the Poarch Creeks, told AL.com last week.

“We need to have a serious conversation about sports gambling in Alabama, and we need it 100 percent,” he said. “I want to start a conversation with lawmakers and am just trying to figure out the best way to go about it.”

As for where a majority Black-owned casino would be located, Singleton said: “I love for it to be in Birmingham, for it to be in the largest city.”

Late last year, Wind Creek Hospitality, which is owned by the Poarch Creek tribe, announced it would purchase the Birmingham Racecourse from longtime owners, the McGregor family. In a release, the tribe said it intends to create “a premier entertainment destination in the Southeast and will continue to offer parimutuel and historical horse racing games currently in operation.”

“We just need to work through that,” Singleton said. “People just got to be willing to have competition.”

Barkley said he’s “open” to the idea of owning a casino in Birmingham. “It just has to be in the right location,” he said.

Legislators have tried and failed to pass several plans for gambling since Alabama voters rejected a lottery in 1999.

With 2026 being an election year, Singleton isn’t sure whether lawmakers will have the stomach to tackle gambling in this session. “Let’s just be honest about that,” he said. “Sometimes people don’t want to have that vote on their record going into election years.”

However, very real financial concerns about the potential loss of millions in state revenue due to cuts at the federal level, along with dire needs for funds to support areas like rural hospitals, could be the impetus for a new bill during this session.

“Circumstances are beginning to hit us where we are looking to have new dollars,” Singleton said. “Chairman Albritton understands that. When I look at DOGE taking $290 million away from Alabama for mental health and public health, all of that comes out of the general fund. That could be a hit to our budget, so new dollars are needed so we can have sustainability.”

Albritton did not respond to a request for comment.

Added Singleton: “I look forward to working with the Chairman and Mr. Barkley and whoever wants to sit down at the table and see if we can craft language to make sure we have some ownership participation in this process. That’s what I look forward to.”