Digital Wager Wire highlights the most significant events affecting the domestic and international sports betting and gaming industries each week throughout the year.
North Carolina Bets on Higher Sportsbook Taxes
The Tar Heel State is the latest market to hike taxes on revenues generated by the licensed sportsbooks that operate within its boundaries. Although some state legislators, like Senator Jim Burgin, wanted the rate to soar to 50%, cooler heads prevailed, and North Carolina lawmakers have agreed to raise the rate from 18% to 23%, which will take effect on July 1st, the beginning of the state’s fiscal year.
Raising the tax rate on mobile sportsbooks has been a topic of discussion since last year, but this session proved to be fruitful for those who believe the state’s tax coffers should be getting a bigger piece of the pie. Once the rate increase takes effect, North Carolina will boast a higher rate than New Jersey (19.75%), Massachusetts (20%), and Ohio (20%).
Despite the increase, North Carolina’s tax on sportsbooks will still fall far short of New Hampshire, New York, Oregon, and Rhode Island, all of which have the highest tax on sportsbooks’ revenues at a whopping 51%.
House Speaker Destin Hall said his legislative colleagues felt it was important to keep the new rate in line with those found in other states.
“I think, on our side of the building, it’s more so looking at, ‘How do we line up with other states?’ We want to be on the average of what other states are doing on a lot of these rates,” House Speaker Destin Hall told WRAL earlier this month. “A lot of the ideas are out there. I think we’re somewhat hesitant to tweak too much a program that’s worked pretty well for the state, all things considered.”
North Carolina launched its mobile sports betting industry in March 2024, and in a little over two years, the state has collected nearly $300 million in taxes from the mobile sportsbooks operating in its territory. Assuming the tax rate was at 23%, North Carolina would have collected an additional $78 million over that span.
However, it should be noted that the increased rate could change the calculus and have a deleterious effect on the handle. Sportsbooks will no longer have the same budget to spend on promotional campaigns and bonuses to attract new customers and entice their current customers to continue betting.
“Legal sports betting is generating real revenue for collegiate athletic departments across the state,” FanDuel said to customers in an electronic letter. “A tax hike would threaten that funding and hit fans.”
Three Casinos, One Vision: Bally’s Expands on Multiple Fronts
Bally’s has expanded from a Providence-based regional casino operator to a gaming industry powerhouse. And that has never been more on display than right now, as the company currently has three massive projects across the nation in various phases of implementation.
In Chicago, the company continues to operate a temporary casino while work progresses on its planned $2 billion permanent casino resort. Bally’s is also developing retail and entertainment spaces on the former Tropicana Las Vegas site, located next to the future home of the Athletics, costing another $1.2 billion.
Lastly, Bally’s was also awarded one of New York’s three downstate casino licenses, which is expected to cost $4 billion for the integrated resort in the Bronx. The hotel and casino plan includes 500,000 square feet of casino space, a 500-room hotel, and an expansive entertainment complex designed to attract major stars who will, in turn, draw large audiences.
