Online sports betting in North Carolina begins March 11

Western North Carolinians can place online sports bets beginning in March, right in time for the annual ACC men’s basketball tournament.

The North Carolina State Lottery Commission voted unanimously on Wednesday to allow mobile sports bets to begin at noon on March 11. North Carolina becomes the 30th state, including Washington D.C., to approve online sports betting.

“Bets on sporting events have been made for as long as those events have taken place, but this time they will be legal, they will be done securely and fairly, and they will be made under rules designed to encourage responsible gaming,” said Ripley Rand, the commission chair, in a news release after the vote.

The law — approved by the state legislature and signed by N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper in 2023 — required sports betting to begin no later than June 15.

Although the start date narrowly misses bets being placed on the Super Bowl and the Duke/UNC basketball game, it will coincide with the annual Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) men’s basketball tournament, set to begin March 12. Four ACC schools are located in North Carolina.

Online sports betting — open for pro, college or Olympic-style sports — will be restricted to anyone 21 or older, and bets can be placed from mobile devices and computers across the state. Bettors can register new accounts and deposit money with a licensed operator who has obtained a certificate beginning March 1.

Nine entities have applied with the commission to take bets in the state as licensed operators, the commission has said, but applications are still open. A complete list has not been released yet, but will be available at ncgaming.gov.

To be approved, every operator must enter into an agreement with an in-state professional team, certain pro golf or automobile racing venues or governing bodies to obtain a license.

While applications have not been released, some deals have been announced by those in partnership — the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets inked a long-term deal with bet365, the Carolina Hurricanes with Fanatics Sportsbook, the PGA Tour with FanDuel, NASCAR with DraftKings and Charlotte Motor Speedway with BetMGM, among others.

Sports betting has already been occurring at casinos owned by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Catawba Indian Nation — legal under tribal law — but those tribes have applied for online licenses with the state, as well.