North Carolina Has Good First Week of Legal Sports Betting

The North Carolina State Lottery Commission has released the revenue numbers for its first full week of legal sports betting which started March 11. From the early returns, things look great going forward for North Carolina sports betting apps and the state's retail providers, as well as our best sports betting sites.

“By all accounts, mobile sport wagering in North Carolina is off to a strong start,” said Sterl Carpenter, deputy executive director of gaming compliance and sports betting at a Commission meeting Wednesday. “Some operators have said as much in interviews and other public comments.”

While not a surprise that North Carolina sports betting has been brisk out of the gate in basketball-crazed North Carolina, the overall sports betting activity, revenues, and tax contributions have to be a bit of an eye opener for regulators in the state.

The North Carolina scene was certainly boosted by NC State, which went on an epic late season run in capturing the ACC Tournament championship after five wins in five days, and by Duke's and the University of North Carolina's presence in the March Madness tournament.

Carpenter all-but confirmed the sentiment saying Wednesday that "I do believe that has to do with NC State and North Carolina doing pretty well in the basketball tournaments."

Getting into the numbers

During the first week of legal sports betting in the Tar Heel State, bettors dropped $198.1 million on sports wagers. Projections from that number amount to a very respectable $594 million handle for the first month of legal sports betting activity in the state. 

Over $81 million in promotional bets were reported over the state's initial seven-day wagering window. More than $141 million in winnings for state bettors were revealed. That number was no doubt helped by the many North Carolina sportsbook promos over the past week.

Nearly $42.7 million in gross gaming revenue resulted from North Carolina sports betting sites and retail providers during the first week of sports betting action, and $7.7 million in tax revenue was generated from the state's 18% tax rate.

Day 1

Day 1 of North Carolina legal sports betting produced $23.9 million in wagers in just 12 hours - from just after the noon launch to midnight. Revenues for the 12-hour period were reported to be $11.03 million. Taxes paid by Tar Heel State providers totalled nearly $2 million for its first day.

Over $12 million in promos were handed out by North Carolina sports betting sites on Day 1, which happened to be the day before the ACC Tournament and a full week prior to March Madness tipping off.

GeoComply, the top geolocation solutions provider in America identified 5.3 million geolocation checks in North Carolina over the first 48 hours of sports wagering legalization. Nearly 370,000 sportsbook accounts were active through the first two days.

Will college prop betting be banned n North Carolina?

So far, North Carolina allows for prop betting on college athletes. But such markets may become a thing of the past if the NCAA has its way. It could hit the Tar Heel State, where basketball is an obsession.

On Wednesday, the same day that North Carolina's first-week report was released, the NCAA signalled its intention to pursue a national ban on college player prop betting.

It remains to be seen if North Carolina will follow Maryland sports betting apps and Ohio sports betting apps among other states in the banning of wagers on individual college player performances. According to a North Carolina State Lottery Commission spokesperson, "If the Commission receives a request from the NCAA to prohibit college player prop bets, it will give such request due consideration as required by the sports betting statute.”