The highly-anticipated launch of sports betting in North Carolina finally arrived on Monday, March 11th at noon, where former NFL tight end and Fox Sports football announcer Greg Olsen made the first legal wager in the Tar Heel state at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte.
Place Your Bets
After years of negotiations, Governor Roy Cooper signed legislation marking the inception of mobile sports betting in North Carolina in June 2023. Since that time, it has been a race to bring sports betting to the masses and create a new revenue stream for the state based on a share of the proceeds from the sports betting operators.
There are eight companies approved in the Tar Heel State to offer online sports betting, and part of their obligation to become licensed was partnering with a professional sports team, league, or venue located in the state. To that end, the eight online operators and their respective partners are as follows:
- Bet365 (NBA’s Charlotte Hornets)
- BetMGM (Charlotte Motor Speedway)
- DraftKings (NASCAR)
- Underdog Sports (McConnell Golf, the parent company of Sedgefield Country Club)
- ESPN Bet (Quail Hollow Club and the PGA’s Wells Fargo Championship)
- Fanatics (Carolina Hurricanes)
- FanDuel (PGA Tour and the Carolina Panthers)
- Caesars (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians)
The operators will pay the state of North Carolina an 18% tax on adjusted gross revenues and are offering significant signup bonuses. DraftKings announced a pre-launch promotion of a minimum bet of $5 will return $300 in bonus bets. Projections are that the state will earn nearly $75 million from revenue tax and licensing fees in the 2024-25 fiscal year with over $100 million in the 2027-28 fiscal year.
The new revenue stream will be used to support North Carolina’s General Fund as well as a new undertaking titled the Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund. Athletic departments at the state’s 13 public universities including five HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) will also receive money generated from the online sportsbooks’ tax revenues.
DraftKings Catches a Ride With NASCAR
In preparation for the launch on March 11th, Boston-based bookmaker, DraftKings, partnered with stock racing’s governing body, NASCAR.
DraftKings President Matt Kalish, said in an announcement, “With the NCAA Tournament right around the corner and the NASCAR season in full throttle, we are thrilled to be launching our top-rated sportsbook app in North Carolina. The Tar Heel State is home to a passionate fanbase and some of the most iconic college basketball programs of all time, making this an exciting time to introduce legalized online sports betting.
“We’re proud to be working alongside NASCAR as our market access partner and look forward to enhancing the fan experience across North Carolina with a fun, safe, and seamless sports betting product.”
“DraftKings has a proven track record of enhancing the fan experience across sports,” said Joe Solosky, NASCAR managing director of sports betting, “We are thrilled to continue working with DraftKings to deliver NASCAR fans more engagement opportunities and bring its leading mobile sportsbook to North Carolina.”
Meanwhile, FanDuel recently announced a second partnership with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in addition to its alignment with the PGA Tour.
