FanDuel Gains Sports Betting Access in North Carolina Through PGA Tour

The North Carolina legal sports betting family is filling up, as FanDuel is the latest big-name provider to enter the Tar Heel State. FanDuel announced Thursday that it gained market access through the PGA Tour to become the latest North Carolina sports betting app.

Under North Carolina law, the best sportsbooks are mandated to partner with professional sports leagues, franchises, or venues in the state to launch.

Already an official betting partner of the Tour, it seems logical that golf's biggest league will allow FanDuel to provide wagering services in what is expected to be a robust North Carolina sports betting scene.

Terms of the deal were not released but it is expected to be an industry-standard 10-year partnership that was signed.

“We have a great relationship with the Tour and we have every intention of continuing that,” Christian Genetski, president of FanDuel, said of the deal. “Building off an existing partner made it a pretty easy conversation to get to the parameters of a deal that we were very comfortable with.”

FanDuel a natural fit

It seemed like just a matter of time before FanDuel became one of the sites offering the best North Carolina betting promos. North Carolina has two PGA stops, and FanDuel is one of six official sports betting operators of the golf league.

FanDuel and the PGA have built a strong relationship, making their partnership in the state a natural fit.

“We are very familiar with FanDuel. We are probably the president of their fan club,” said Scott Warfield, VP of gaming for the PGA Tour. “And we intend to be in business with them as long as we’re in sports betting. That made something that’s long-term like this make a ton of sense.”

Third betting provider in state

North Carolina now has three official sports betting providers that will be going live when the platform officially launches in the new year.

Earlier this week, ESPN BET made its intentions clear to launch in North Carolina thanks to a partnership deal with one of the state's PGA Tour venues, Quail Hollow.

bet365 was the first sportsbook to announce its desire to become a market-share player in the state with November's announcement of a partnership with the Charlotte Hornets.

Though ESPN BET and bet365 have a sponsorship element tied to their partnership deals, FanDuel hasn't made clear any sponsorship element for its presence in the North Carolina market.

When will we see FanDuel in North Carolina?

It won't be this year that FanDuel goes live in North Carolina. The North Carolina Lottery Commission already stated earlier this week that it expects a post-Super Bowl launch.

Applications to be one of the state's legal sports betting providers close on Dec. 27, and a 60-day window to vet those applications will follow.

As of now, it appears that March Madness is the target for widespread legal gambling in North Carolina. Not only will the launch coincide with the second-biggest sporting event on the North American calendar, but it will also be an enormous draw in the basketball-crazed state.

The commission has until June 15, 2024, to go live. Expectations, however, are that North Carolina bettors will have their chance long before that.