A report from the North Carolina State Lottery Commission reveals sportsbooks in the Tar Heel State generated $105.3 million in gross sports betting revenue in April, the industry’s first full month in operation.
Business Is Booming
North Carolina launched mobile sports betting on March 11th but the revenue numbers being reported by the North Carolina State Lottery Commission would lead one to believe it is a fully mature market as opposed to the nascent industry that it is.
April’s revenue report shows the mobile sportsbooks did $648.9 million in total handle, generating a whopping $105.3 million. This made North Carolina only the fifth state to eclipse the $100 million operator revenue threshold, joining New York, Ohio, New Jersey and Illinois.
Here’s your updated @USBettingReport national sports betting handle leaderboard, reflecting today’s updates out of Colorado, Ohio and Virginia.
North Carolina already ranking ahead of Pennsylvania & Nevada was … a surprise. pic.twitter.com/TJaVEWghi4— Christopher Boan (@cgboan) May 31, 2024
Only Ohio reached the $100 million benchmark faster than North Carolina, when it did so in January 2023 with a staggering $209 million during its first month in operation in January 2023. North Carolina has the distinction of reporting revenue above $100 million for just the ninth time this year and it did so courtesy of a stunning 16.2% hold or win rate.
The state has collected $30.9 million in tax revenues over the first seven weeks of sports betting. This bodes well for an industry that has yet to experience the enormous betting activity that comes with college and NFL football from September through January.
A portion of the revenues are earmarked for the athletic departments in the state’s 13 colleges and universities, while money is also set aside for the National Carolina Youth Outdoor Engagement Commission and problem gambling resources.
What’s Next in NC?
Once legislators see the revenues generated by mobile sports betting, many of them begin contemplating other gaming revenue streams. Online casino gambling, also known as iGaming, is the logical next step. But only seven states have taken the plunge so far, including New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Connecticut and Rhode Island.
Legislators in other states where mobile sports betting is legal have expressed concerns that it may be a step too far and that the immediate access to a casino in the palm of one’s hand could prove to be too addictive. Therefore, many lawmakers believe the juice just isn’t worth the squeeze and have decided to forego the substantial financial benefits that could be derived from iGaming.
Time to Push for iGaming?
North Carolina State Representative Zack Hawkins, a vocal proponent of mobile wagering and one who was in charge of deciding how and where the new revenue stream generated by sports betting would be directed was asked about the possibility of North Carolina entering the realm of online casino gambling.
“That has come up quite a bit. I could see iGaming coming up for discussion in the long session. In the next two to four years, you could have a serious discussion,” said Hawkins.
Unlike other states that try to implement a sweeping gaming package that includes everything from mobile sports betting to parimutuel horse racing to iGaming, Hawkins believed the cleanest, clearest path to getting mobile sports betting approved was to focus solely on it and nothing else. And it worked.
“If we had tried to add on two or three concepts, everything would fail,” Hawkins said.
