NC online sports betting bill to be signed in Charlotte
With Cooper's signature, the bill will turn into law and go into effect in January 2024.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper will sign a bill into law on Wednesday that will legalize online sports betting across the state.
Cooper will be at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte to sign House Bill 347, which passed through both chambers of the NC General Assembly earlier this month.
The law will go into effect on Jan. 8, 2024, and calls for the NC Lottery Commission to award 12 licenses for operators to take online sports bets for any adult in North Carolina.
Additionally, eight facilities in the state will be able to operate a sportsbook:
- Bank of America Stadium
- Spectrum Center
- Charlotte Motor Speedway
- Quail Hollow Country Club
- North Wilkesboro Speedway
- PNC Arena
- WakeMed Soccer Park
- Sedgefield Country Club
Adults with wagering accounts will be able to bet online through computers or mobile phones. But proposed sportsbooks offered at or near pro sports venues, race tracks and golf courses can take cash bets from anyone over 21. Horse-race betting will be allowed through separate gambling operators.
The legislation will tax sports wagering at a rate equal to 18% of gross betting revenue minus winnings. The earlier proposal in the House set a similar 14% tax with more deductions.
Several public universities will receive $300,000 annually from license fees and taxes collected from the law.
The list of schools that will receive money is:
- UNC-Charlotte
- Appalachian State
- East Carolina University
- NC A&T University
- NC Central University
- UNC-Asheville
- UNC-Greensboro
- UNC-Pembroke
- UNC-Wilmington
- Western Carolina University
- Winston-Salem University
The bill also allocates $2 million to the NC Department of Health and Human Services, $1 million to North Carolina Amateur Sports, and $1 million to the North Carolina Heritage Advisory Council.
North Carolina's attempts to legalize online sports betting began in 2019. The Senate passed a sports betting bill in 2021 but the measure failed by a single vote in the House in 2022. Sports gambling was previously only allowed at three tribal casinos before this bill.
Online sports gambling was legalized after a 2018 Supreme Court decision. Since then, 30 states, including North Carolina, have legalized online sports betting.
