North Carolina Online Sports Betting Gets its Start Date

• The North Carolina Lottery Commission approved the state’s online sports betting start date
• Operators will be able to begin online sports betting on Monday, March 11, at noon
• The NCAA March Madness tournament will begin on Tuesday, March 19

North Carolina sports betting apps will beat the buzzer and launch before the NCAA’s March Madness tournament.

The North Carolina Lottery Commission unanimously approved the state’s online sports betting launch date this morning. Licensed operators will be able to begin offering online sports betting in the Tar Heel State on Monday, March 11, at noon.

The commission met Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) start date goal of the March Madness tournament, which does not begin until Tuesday, March 19.

North Carolina Online Sports Betting to Begin in Margins by the Tournament

According to Sterl Carpenter, Deputy Executive Director Gaming Compliance and Sports Betting for the Lottery Commission, operators need to acquire their certificates of compliance before its able to register players or offer sports betting. Operators will have to submit their internal control requirements, a major step in obtaining their certificates, by Friday, Jan. 26.

The lottery commission officially set a date for licensed operators to register players, which will open on Friday, March 1.

“With this proposed authorization, we are telling the public that we are ready for sports wagering. It’s up to our operator applicants to meet the requirements set by the General Assembly and this commission,” Carpenter said.

Last month, Gov. Cooper broke the silence on North Carolina sports betting and officially said he hoped the state was able to launch online sports betting prior to the start of the March Madness tournament. The first-four round of the tournament will begin on Tuesday, March 19.

Lottery Commission Chairman Ripley Rand congratulated the members of the commission on their hard work. This morning’s meeting, which lasted all of 10 minutes, is in no way reflective of the amount of effort the staff and commission put into the sports betting programs, he said.

“We’ve met frequently over the last several months to be at this point where we’ll be ready to be live far in advance of the June deadline,” Rand said.

Statutorily, North Carolina’s bill set a deadline of June 15 to launch sports betting. No start date for in-person sports betting has been set yet.

Nine Sports Betting Operators to Start

Currently, there are nine sports betting license applicants in the state. The applicants including Caesars Sportsbook North Carolina and their market access partners are as follows:

• bet365 NC: Charlotte Hornets
• BetMGM NC: Charlotte Motor Speedway
• DraftKings NC: NASCAR
• Fanatics Betting and Gaming: Carolina Hurricanes
• FanDuel NC: PGA Tour
• PENN Sports Interactive (ESPN BET NC): Quail Hollow Club (PGA Tour course)
• Underdog Sports: McConnell Golf

The Catawba Two Kings Casino and Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise Cherokee have also applied for a sports betting license in the Tar Heel State. Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise Cherokee will likely partner with Caesars Sportsbook to run its sports betting if it receives a license.