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Online sports betting is now made possible in North Carolina, as it was made legal as of noon ET on Monday (Mar. 11)
The bill was passed last summer to allow people located in the state, who are over the age of 2, to bet on professional and college sports. It will be regulated by the North Carolina State Lottery Commission which was first set up to oversee the state lottery in 2006.
Eight companies were able to start taking bets online this week, with the North Carolina Lottery Commission issuing licenses to:
- Betfair Interactive US, LLC (dba: FanDuel Sportsbook)
- BETMGM, LLC.
- Crown NC Gaming, LLC (dba: DraftKings)
- FBG Enterprises Opco, LLC (dba: Fanatics Sportsbook)
- Hillside (North Carolina), LLC (dba: bet365)
- Penn Sports Interactive, LLC (dba: ESPN BET)
- Underdog Sports Wagering LLC
- Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians
Speaking in a company press release, the North American president of DraftKings Matt Kalish expressed his satisfaction: “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.”
This marks a substantial change as this is the first time this has been made possible, following the 1992 ban under the ‘Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act.’ This made it illegal for states to authorize legal sports betting.
This was then overturned in 2018 and states began to open up to the idea over the last couple of years. Before this, anyone who wanted to bet on sports legally had to travel to casinos in Nevada or three other states that were exempt.
The North Carolina sports wagering law which was passed last June lays out how the tax revenue will be spent too. $2 million will be set aside each year to support people with gambling addiction and a further $1 million will support youth sports.
The tax revenue will also go towards being used to attract big events to the area, like sports tournaments and music festivals.
Betting is becoming big business in the US
Since the initial ban was overturned in 2018, online betting has been on the rise throughout the U.S. with Americans having gambled more than $245bn.
In 2022, over 25 million people engaged in sports betting in the U.S., with the figure forecast to rise by 47 percent by 2025.
Photo by Lesli Whitecotton on Unsplash
