North Carolina Lawmakers File Sports Betting Expansion Bill
- Senators Jim Perry and Paul Lowe have filed a new North Carolina sports betting bill.
- The bill would allow for 10 to 12 interactive sports wagering operators in the state.
- The North Carolina State Lottery Commission would run the operations.
RALEIGH, N.C. – While sports betting recently launched in North Carolina, lawmakers are already looking to expand on the market.
The goal of this bill is to allow for 10 to 12 sports betting operators in the state. These will be overseen by the North Carolina State Lottery Commission.
The goal is to generate money for school construction. The bill declares an estimated $50 million in revenue should they be able to expand on the legal North Carolina gambling market.
More Sports Betting Options
The bill known as SB 688 would authorize the NC Lottery Commission to run these sportsbooks with the state collecting 8% tax on all income generated by legal sports betting.
In order to promote the expansion, Senators Jim Perry and Paul Lowe have been explaining the financial benefits the state would see from the bill. Perry is a Kinston Republican while Lowe is a Winston-Salem Democrat, showing that the bill has bipartisan support.
“We need more money for education,” said Lowe. “We’ve got to do it some kind of way, and it’s not gonna drop out of the air. Folks are already doing it, so we might as well get the tax dollars from it obviously.”
The current sports betting system allows sports betting only at the two tribal casinos in North Carolina. With the expansion, sports betting would be less limited and be active on a more state-wide basis.
The bill opens up North Carolina to other sportsbooks, charging a $500,000 licensing fee with $100,000 renewal fees and a $10,000 service provider license.
The money from sports betting would exclusively be used to fund education in the state with an estimated $50 million for that very purpose. This would be bigger than the current lottery system, which only sees 30% of revenue be allocated for education.
“I’m in a poor area,” said Perry. “I have two Tier 1 counties and while I’m thankful for the money available through the lottery — they’ll let you forgo five years of your lottery funds to get some advance money, so to speak, to help with your schools — but that’s still not enough.”
With COVID-19 causing a lot of losses in budgets for states, legal gambling is being used to recoup from some of those losses. While the bill is still in its early stage and would be a while before it's voted on, North Carolina betting fans can still be optimistic about the potential expansion.