No ‘Go Live’ Date Yet For North Carolina Mobile Sports Betting, But Mobile Comes Before In-Person

No date has been set for when statewide North Carolina mobile sports betting will be allowed to start, but mobile wagering will begin before people will be able to place bets in person at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks, a state gaming official said Thursday.

At a North Carolina Sports Betting Committee meeting, Sterl Carpenter, deputy executive director for gaming compliance and sports betting, reviewed the seven mobile wagering operators that have applied for a license.

The operators have not been approved, nor is there a date for when bettors legally can use mobile apps and computers to bet on sports, Carpenter noted. However, mobile sports betting will begin before people can walk into a commercial sportsbook and place a bet at a ticket window. No date has been set for in-person sports betting.

Mobile Operators Awating State Approval 

During Thursday’s brief meeting, Carpenter displayed a computer slide showing the seven mobile sports betting operators that have applied for a North Carolina license. They are:

• Betfair Interactive U.S. (Doing business as FanDuel Sportsbook)
• BetMGM
• Crown N.C. Gaming (DBA DraftKings)
• FBG Enterprises North Carolina (DBA Fanatics Betting & Gaming)
• Hillside North Carolina (DBA Bet365)
• Penn Sports Interactive 
• Underdog Sports Wagering

These seven applications were submitted before the Dec. 27 deadline. The Penn Sports application will operate under the ESPN BET brand. Others can apply for a license but won’t be allowed to begin when the launch occurs, officials have said.

Governor Sets March Madness As Goal

By law, commercial sports betting cannot begin before next Monday, but has a June 15 "go live" deadline. State officials have previously said the Jan. 8 date is too soon and out of the question for mobile wagering to begin.

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, has set the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament as the goal for launching mobile wagering.

The men’s tournament tips off March 19-20 in Dayton, Ohio. The Final Four matchups are April 6 in Phoenix, with the national championship game slated for April 8 in Arizona’s capital city.

North Carolina has long been a hotbed for college basketball. Two of the state’s traditional NCAA powerhouses are in the Associated Press Top 25 poll — the North Carolina Tar Heels (9-3) at No. 8 and the Duke Blue Devils  (9-3) at No. 14.

Nationwide, the most wagered-on event is the NFL’s Super Bowl, scheduled for this year on Feb. 11 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, just west of the Strip.

Given the short timeframe, commercial sports betting will not be up and running in North Carolina in time for legal Super Bowl betting, according to published reports.

Currently, however, in-person sports betting is legal at three tribal casinos in North Carolina: Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino, and Catawba Two Kings Casino. 

Full Commission Meets Next Week

A discussion of sports betting launch dates could occur when the full North Carolina State Lottery Commission meets next on Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET. The commission oversees sports betting in the state.

The commission’s Sports Betting Committee meeting on Thursday was brief, resulting in one vote to approve internal controls for operators and another to approve two test labs.