Waiting Game for North Carolina's Legal Sports Betting Launch is Underway

HB 347 passed through the House and the Senate and is now headed to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk. However, mobile wagering won't be able to start until the end of January at the earliest.

Now that North Carolina’s General Assembly has passed a bill to legalize online sports betting sites, the clock is set to start on when Tar Heel State residents can begin mobile and in-person wagering at one of eight sports venues. 

The House of Representatives finalized HB 347 on June 7 with a vote of 68-45 to concur with changes made by the Senate, but North Carolina bettors won't be rushing to their phones to wager on the Carolina Panthers when the NFL season begins in September. 

A bill introduced earlier this year passed through the House in March and the Senate on June 1, and it's now headed to Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk.

Cooper, who is still evaluating the bill, is set to sign it into law as early as this week. He’s been in public favor of legal sports betting in North Carolina since a bill failed last year, and just last week, Cooper was satisfied with what the General Assembly finalized.  

“I’m glad they upped the (tax) percentage (from 14% to 18%) that the state gets and took away the promotional credits that they would get,” Cooper told the Ovies + Giglio podcast. “I think it’s pretty good legislation. Once we’re ready to get it implemented we should get it going in this state.”

Pump the brakes

Unfortunately, North Carolina sports betting will still have to take in-person wagers only at one of the three tribal casinos for the upcoming NFL and college football seasons. HB 347 does not allow the implementation of mobile sports betting and retail venue wagering until January 24, 2024, at the earliest. 

Once Cooper signs the bill into law, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission — the regulatory entity overseeing sports betting — has 12 months from that day to award up to 12 online licenses, so it could be as long as next summer before it goes live... even though Cooper said there will be a hard push to have it up and running in January. 

That would coincide with a pre-Super Bowl launch and come in time for the meat of the college basketball season, which is a popular sport in the Tar Heel State.

However, legislators have said it could take more than six months just to create the regulatory structure, evaluate/approve operator applications, and determine which sports can be wagered on in North Carolina. Approved operators will have to pay a $1 million licensing fee for a five-year period.

HB 347 does allow betting on professional and college sports, including in-state teams, the Olympics, and eSports. Horse racing was also included in the bill, so that’s another structure to figure out. 

A January timetable is questionable at best.

Hungry for wagering

North Carolina is one of the 10 largest states in the U.S., so there will be no shortage of suitors looking to do big business in a state of more than 10 million people. 

Ohio, which is just ahead of North Carolina with over 11 million residents, launched legal sports betting on Jan. 1 and has already drawn more than $3 billion in wagers. 

GeoComply Solutions Inc. shared data with Covers in March to show that the company that gives operators the locations of bettors tracked more than 1.75 million attempts to access legal sports betting apps in other markets from within North Carolina during the NFL season. While those attempts were blocked, they came from nearly 166,000 unique accounts. 

North Carolina residents looking to place mobile wagers currently have to cross borders into Tennessee and Virginia, which is a big reason legislators wanted to bring that tax revenue into the Tar Heel State. Legislators estimate North Carolina's 18% tax rate could pull in nearly $100 million by 2028.

Partnership opportunities abound

The Tar Heel State is one of the fastest-growing in the U.S., and it has professional teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS as well as some of the most popular college brands in UNC and Duke. 

North Carolina represents a tremendous market for sportsbook operators, and it won’t take long after Cooper signs the bill into law to see the effects. 

One of the earliest brands to emerge in a list of license hopefuls is Caesars, which already has a footprint with brick-and-mortar sportsbooks within North Carolina’s Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River. 

FanDuel, which owns nearly 50% of the U.S. market share, and rival DraftKings, are already operating daily fantasy sports sites in North Carolina, making for an easy transition to becoming operating sportsbooks in the state. 

BetMGM — another competitor that’s licensed to operate in over 20 states — is another likely candidate for one of the 12 spots. 

Two Kings Casino, the third tribal retail sportsbook in North Carolina, has already announced that it plans on creating its own mobile app so it can apply for an online license.  

Getting in on the action

Professional teams, like the Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, and Carolina Hurricanes, are allowed to form affiliations with operators, which is expected to begin happening quickly after the bill is signed into law. 

HB 347 also allows eight sports venues to offer in-person sports betting, with cash-only wagering, within one-and-a-half miles of the facility. Bank of America, which houses the Panthers, Charlotte FC, and the ACC Championship Football Game, seems like one of the top choices for an on-site retail location. 

Other Tar Heel State venues that host sporting events include Spectrum Center (Hornets), PNC Arena (Hurricanes), Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Wilkesboro Speedway, and WakeMed Soccer Park.

Sedgefield Country Club in Greensboro and Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte host annual PGA Tour events.