How new sports betting law will help N.C. universities

PEMBROKE, N.C. — UNC Pembroke is one of 13 schools benefiting from the state's new sports betting law going into effect in 2024.

What You Need To Know

• The N.C. Lottery Commission is still finalizing steps to put sports betting in place for the state, set to launch in 2024

• The law legalizes betting on horse races and sports in North Carolina, including professional, collegiate and amateur sports

• Thirteen UNC system schools will receive a $300,000 allotment, plus a share of state tax revenue from sports betting

The law legalizes betting on horse races and sports in North Carolina, including professional, collegiate and amateur sports. The N.C. Lottery Commission is still finalizing steps to put sports betting in place for the state.

UNC Pembroke athletic director Dick Christy was once a golf athlete at Wingate University and is passionate about the effects sports betting will have on North Carolina schools, especially small ones.

In spring, UNC schools will receive a $300,000 allotment because of the legalization of sports betting in North Carolina. He says this money will go a long way for smaller schools like UNC Pembroke.

“Regional school athletics are significantly impacted not just by enrollment, but by the changing landscape of higher ed. So without a new revenue stream, it really wouldn't have been sustainable for what we've been trying to provide for our student athletes,” Christy said.

After the schools' annual allotment, the state will take 20% of the remaining tax revenue from the betting and split it evenly among the schools each year.

“That's a game changer for small-town athletics. It makes a big difference in how we stabilize our operating budget, makes a big difference in how we structure health and safety requirements and just the ability to affect our local economy,” Christy said.

One project Christy is proud of is in the women’s golf locker room on campus. As a former golf athlete he knows how important on-campus practice can be. This putting ground was just a dream 10 years ago; Christy hopes money from sports betting will make more of these dreams a reality.

“We raise money, it lets us not have to use that money for basic operations. We can actually use it for facilities and capital and things that will further the experience for our student athletes,” Christy said.

Investing in athletics has been proven a success for UNC Pembroke. The school's teams claimed a record seven conference titles during the 2022-23 season. The sports department also earned a Conference Carolinas Joby Hawn All-Sports trophy for the first time since the 1991-92 season.

Academically, the athletics at UNC Pembroke were also strong in 2022-23, with a record 10 students posting 3.0 grade point averages or better and a total GPA for student athletes of 2.896, which is the fourth-highest in the 84-year history of the school's athletics.

While there are many benefits to the universities, Christy says this new age of sports betting can also pose dangers.

“We've had to be vigilant with everything that goes around it. You know, all the old point-shaving scandals, those kind of things. So it gives us another touchpoint to be educational with our student athletes, they need to be completely separate, even though it's now legal in the state,” Christy said.