As of noon Monday, online sports betting is legal in North Carolina. This comes as the ACC basketball tournament is set to wrap up on Tuesday.
The Legislature passed a new law to legalize sports betting last year, tasking the North Carolina Lottery Commission with making it all work. The commission approved licenses for eight companies to start accepting bets online on Monday.
Companies that accept sports betting online
Companies approved to accept bets so far have flooded TV and radio with ads trying to attract new customers ahead of Monday’s launch. This includes DraftKings, FanDuel Sportsbook and Fanatics Sportsbook, all national companies that already accept bets in other countries.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which has casinos on tribal land in western North Carolina, also won the Lottery Commission’s approval.
Companies began registering players on March 1. People must be 21 years of age or older to place bets through the online services.
The Lottery Commission issued licenses to:
- Betfair Interactive US, LLC (dba: FanDuel Sportsbook)
- BETMGM, LLC.
- Crown NC Gaming, LLC (dba: DraftKings)
- FBG Enterprises Opco, LLC (dba: Fanatics Sportsbook)
- Hillside (North Carolina), LLC (dba: bet365)
- Penn Sports Interactive, LLC (dba: ESPN BET)
- Underdog Sports Wagering LLC
- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Initially, companies will only be allowed to accept online bets on smartphones and other devices.
NC Sports Betting Law
The North Carolina General Assembly passed the sports betting law in June. The vote was split in the House and Senate, but supporters rallied enough support to push it through both chambers.
The law makes betting legal on all professional, collegiate and amateur sports, except for youth sports.
The legislation assigns responsibility for overseeing sports betting to the North Carolina Lottery Commission. The commission has the right to grant licenses to up to 12 companies to accept sports betting.
The bill also legalizes betting on horse racing and includes provisions for companies to set up physical sportsbooks.
What about physical sports betting?
Now that online sports betting is underway in North Carolina, companies are also working to open sports betting locations in the state.
Physical sports betting, where people can bet and watch games, will only be allowed near venues where professional teams play, such as Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte and PNC Arena in Raleigh. This does not include minor league teams such as the Durham Bulls.
Sports betting can also be near NASCAR tracks that host at least one race a year. The law also allows temporary sports betting near major professional golf tournaments.
The law also allows betting on electronic sports such as video game tournaments.
Sports betting is big money
North Carolina’s sports betting industry is expected to grow rapidly into the billions of dollars.
“With a population of more than 10 million, North Carolina will be the sixth largest state in the nation to allow sports betting. Because of this, many in the gaming industry expect the state to quickly become one of the larger markets in the U.S.,” according to BetCarolina.com, which tracks the state’s sports betting industry.
BetCarolina predicts that sports betting will take in almost $6.5 billion in the first year. North Carolina will tax the revenue of sports betting companies at 18%.
The state expects to bring in more than $100 million in annual revenue by 2027, according to state Legislature staff budget projections.
What happens to tax revenue?
The Sports Betting Act determines how the tax revenue will be spent, with $2 million each year to help people with gambling addictions and $1 million to support youth sports.
Much of the money will go to support athletics programs at all schools in the University of North Carolina system except UNC Chapel Hill and NC State University.
The tax revenue will also be used to create a new fund to attract new major events to North Carolina, such as music festivals and sports tournaments.
