North Carolina Sports Betting Hit $659 Million in Short First Legalized Month
North Carolina sports betting only became legal on March 11 of this year, but gamblers in the Tar Heel State already bet a whopping $659 million.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission issued the first monthly report on how legalized sports betting has gone in the state. The Commission regulates the program that went live just in time for the NCAA Tournament this year. They plan to issue a report at the end of each month, much like every other state with legalized betting does.
According to the Commission, from March 11 to March 31, North Carolinians bet $659,308,541 on sports. That includes $456,702,632 in paid wagering, and $202,605,900 in promotional wagering (free bets provided as bonuses by the operators).
But how good were those bets? Well, the companies paying out on those bets had to pay $590,750,303 in winnings out for March. That left a “Gross Wagering Revenue” of $66,496,213. That’s how much the companies like FanDuel, DraftKings, ESPN BET and others made combined.
That number is important for North Carolina sports betting, because it’s the number that determines how much North Carolina takes in revenue back. State law has an 18 percent tax rate to each of the operators on that number. So for the month of March (which was just the 20 days of betting), the State of North Carolina will collect $11,969,318.34. So basically $12 million.
For a short month, that’s not bad. March is the busiest betting month of the first half of the year because of the NCAA Tournament, so it likely won’t be that high an amount again until football season.
Where Does North Carolina Sports Betting Revenue Go?
So where does that North Carolina sports betting money go? The state is actually very clear about how those revenues are split up. Here’s the breakdown:
- $2 million goes to Health and Human Services for gambling addiction education, etc.,
- $1 million goes to help expand youth sports opportunities,
- $300,000 each ($3.9 million) goes to 13 colleges in the state, including Fayetteville State and UNC Pembroke in our area for their athletic departments,
- $1 million goes to youth sports grants to pay for team travel and for attracting sports competitions to the state,
- Some cost of administration and implementation of the law.
So nearly $8 million to guaranteed programs, and an unknown sum for implementation, but probably not too high an amount.
After that, the state says the remaining money will go to the following:
- 20 percent distributed to those 13 schools again,
- 30 percent to a “North Carolina Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund to foster job creation and investment in the state,”
- 50 percent to the state’s General Fund.
The moral of all of that, is that in one month, all the revenue guarantees have been covered, and basically everything the state makes in revenue the rest of the year goes to that 20-30-50 split.
(Editor’s Note: KC Atkins has a paid endorsement with sports betting operator DraftKings. This post was not a sponsored post, or affiliated with that endorsement.)