The long-anticipated launch of sports betting in North Carolina is nearly here but those who want to get a jump on things can sign up at any one of eight mobile sportsbooks right now.
Sign Up and Get Down
Friday, March 1st, 2024 marked the day when online signups became available at the eight online sportsbooks that will be launching on Monday, March 11th at noon, which will allow bettors to begin making wagers on any number of betting markets.
“We are continuing to make significant strides toward putting all the different pieces together and being prepared for the successful launch of sports wagering on March 11,” Commission Chair Ripley Rand said. “I want to thank everybody who’s been working hard to make all of this happen.”
North Carolina is a college basketball hotbed, with some of the nation’s most storied teams such as Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill located in the state. But there are also other competitive D-1 college hoops programs like NC State, Wake Forest and NBA star Steph Curry’s Davidson College Wildcats, to name a few.
Therefore, the launch coincides with the annual phenomenon known as March Madness or the Big Dance, when 68 teams will vie for national basketball supremacy. Selection Sunday, the day when teams find out where they are seeded in one of the four designated regions, will occur on March 17th and the First Four will tip off the national tournament on March 19th and 20th.
Those in North Carolina and around the nation who want to get a bird’s eye look at the first and second rounds can buy seats at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, which will run on March 21st (first round) and March 23rd (second round). The NBA’s Charlotte Hornets play at the Spectrum Center and have partnered with British bookmaker bet365, allowing the European mobile sportsbook to operate in the North Carolina market.
The Great Eight
The eight online sportsbooks that are available in North Carolina are as follows:
- BetMGM partnered with Charlotte Motor Speedway
- Caesars Sportsbook partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
- Bet365 partnered with the Charlotte Hornets
- DraftKings partnered with NASCAR
- ESPN BET partnered with Quail Hollow Club
- FanDuel partnered with the PGA Tour
- Fanatics Sportsbook partnered with the Carolina Hurricanes
- Underdog Sports partnered with Sedgefield Country Club
All of these sportsbooks have early sign-up options available and many will have bonuses to encourage customers to experience their mobile betting apps. There are currently four online licenses available that must be partnered with four in-state professional sports teams or venues with the most notable being the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. Therefore, North Carolina could have as many as a dozen sportsbooks operating in its market.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission approved three action items on its list last month including:
- Voluntary self-exclusion program
- Compliance forms, including error reports and complaint forms
- Tribal enterprise agreement, which allows the state’s federally recognized tribes to conduct online sports betting off tribal land
Employees, commissioners, and immediate family members of the North Carolina State Lottery Commission are prohibited from betting on sports.
