Source: CBS 17
The NC State Lottery Commission has officially announced that sports betting will debut in North Carolina on Monday, March 11th at 12:00 p.m. The date is less than a week before the start of March Madness on Sunday, March 17th and months ahead of the HB347’s deadline of June 15th, fulfilling the Commission’s goal of opening the state for sports betting in “early 2024.”
“The plan approved today means that North Carolinians will be able to place bets on their favorite teams in many of this year’s college basketball conference tournaments,” said Lottery Commissioner Rand Ripley, speaking to ABC11. “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.”
The announcement comes at the conclusion of an extensive application and approval process for sports betting firms like FanDuel, Draft Kings, and Underdog Sports Wagering that began in December 2023. The application included 30 pages of questions and can take thousands of pages to complete, said Sports Betting Committee chair Cari Boyce in an interview with WXII. In addition to vetting applicants, the commission had to set industry rules and independently test gambling machines and software to comply with the North Carolina General Assembly’s new statutes.
Proceeds from sports wagering will go to the NC Department of Health and Human Services for gambling addiction education and treatment programs, NC Amateur Sports, 13 public universities, the North Carolina Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council and the state’s General Fund among other outlets. NC State’s Poole College of Management estimates that sports betting could produce over $22 million in revenue in 2024 but grow to over $42 million by 2027 as initial incentives such as bonuses and promotional credits expire.
If you can’t wait until March 11th to place bets on The Hurricanes’ NHL season or the Charlotte Hornets next NBA game, you can currently place bets in tribal casinos across NC such as Catawba Two Kings Casino, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel.
