North Carolina Mobile Sports Betting Platform Goes Live March 11
All eyes were on Wednesday's North Carolina Lottery Commission meeting with the hopes that an official launch date for North Carolina sports betting apps would be announced — and the Commission didn't disappoint. Residents of the Tar Heel State will not need to wait much longer before having access to many of our best sports betting sites.
Despite being unable to make North Carolina sports betting a reality for the single biggest day on the North American sports betting calendar, the Super Bowl, regulators in the state did make good on a promise to have legal mobile sports wagering in place for the second-biggest event, March Madness.
The official date for North Carolina sports betting apps is Tuesday, March 11. Pre-registration for North Carolina sports betting sites can start on March 1, when bettors 21 years and older can sign up for one of the state's sports betting sites and take advantage of early registration incentives.
On March 11, the long-awaited compliment to a limited retail sports wagering platform at three tribal casinos will go live.
Who will be going live on March 11?
So far, seven licensed North Carolina sports betting sites will take bets on March 11, eight days before March Madness tips off. March Madness is a decent consolation launch-date prize for the basketball-crazed state, and bettors will want to take advantage of newly available North Carolina sportsbook promos.
The sportsbooks expected to go live March 11 include:
- bet365 partnered with the Charlotte Hornets
- BetMGM partnered with Charlotte Motor Speedway
- DraftKings partnered with NASCAR
- Fanatics Betting and Gaming partnered with the Carolina Hurricanes
- FanDuel partnered with the PGA Tour
- PENN Sports Interactive (ESPN BET) partnered with Quail Hollow Club
- Underdog Sportsbook partnered with McConnell Golf
There is a chance that the Catawba Two Kings Casino and Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise Cherokee could add to the seven licensed mobile sports betting operators in the state. Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise already has a partnership deal with Caesars Sportsbook.
Launch depends on operators fulfilling regulatory requirements set out by the Commission. Operators will have until Jan. 26 to fulfill those obligations, which include internal control requirements and such initiatives as their responsible gaming plans in the state.
What's at stake?
North Carolina has long been considered one of the more exciting new jurisdictions to join the U.S. legal sports betting family. The Tar Heel State houses the ninth largest state population in the country with just over 10.7 million residents and has boasts pro sports teams in three of North America's four major sporting leagues — the NFL's Carolina Panthers, the NBA's Charlotte Hornets, and the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes.
The PGA Tour and NASCAR also have a major presence in the state.
Sports betting in North Carolina is expected to generate between $8 million and $24 million annually in tax revenue for the state. Bettors will benefit from "enhanced sports viewing experiences," the state's sports teams will benefit from high-level partnerships with sports betting providers, and the state's providers will benefit from what is expected to be a robust legal sports wagering scene in the Tar Heel State.
