North Carolina Has Huge First Month of Legal Sports Betting

The much-anticipated revenues for the first month of legal sports betting in North Carolina are out, and the numbers are impressive. Our best sports betting sites must be pleased that action got underway before March Madness in the basketball-crazed Tar Heel State.

The North Carolina State Lottery Commission report has reported the numbers since North Carolina sports betting apps launched on March 11. March was a good consolation prize after the state failed to go live in time to take advantage of the Super Bowl. 

The timing of the launch proved crucial, however, as betting totals and revenues for state providers exceeded expectations. The NC State Wolfpack, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Duke Blue Devils' appearance in the March Madness tournament certainly didn't hurt the North Carolina sports betting scene.

April will mark the first full month of legal sports betting in the Tar Heel State after just 20 days of wagering action in March. April typically represents the start of the sports betting slow season, so March's figures will likely act as the state record until September and the start of the NFL season.

$659.3 million initial handle

North Carolina sports betting apps set a high bar during their first month of operation, March. The Tar Heel State's eight sportsbooks reported $659.3 million in accepted bets in just 20 days of operation, surpassing the estimated $594 million. Residents definitely took ample opportunity of North Carolina sportsbook promos.

Less than three weeks of wagering in the Tar Heel State produced a bigger handle than Maryland's for the entire month. 

The betting total included $202,605,909 in promotional bets that new users to the state's platform were made eligible for.

Those platforms include:

• bet365 North Carolina in partnership with Charlotte Hornets
• BetMGM in partnership with North Carolina Charlotte Motor Speedway
• Caesars Sportsbook North Carolina in partnership with Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise Cherokee
• DraftKings NC in partnership with NASCAR
• Fanatics Betting and Gaming in partnership with Carolina Hurricanes
• FanDuel North Carolina in partnership with PGA Tour
• ESPN BET North Carolina in partnership with Quail Hollow Golf Club

Unfortunately for those with a keen eye on the North Carolina situation, no data was released showing the state's revenues or betting activities for individual sportsbooks.

Revenues impress

The North Carolina sports betting industry's revenues were slightly under $12 million. That’s after paying out $590,750,303 in winnings on the $659,308,541 handle.

It left about $66.2 million in taxable revenue that was taxed at 18%, for a total of $11,969,318 in contributions from North Carolina sports betting apps. This represents 18% of the projected $64 million in tax contributions for the full year, and it's the first month.

While some typically lean summer months are on the horizon for U.S. sports betting and North Carolina sports betting sites, March represented a very good start for the most anticipated new market to come online this year.