Long-Awaited North Carolina Sports Betting Bill Introduced in House Monday

A year after the closest brush with the passage of online North Carolina sports betting, lawmakers in the Tar Heel State are back for another round.

House Bill 347, which is sponsored by Rep. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln), is slated to go before the chamber later this week after being introduced in the legislature Monday.

The bill stipulates North Carolina betting apps could launch by Jan. 1, with anywhere from 10 to 12 operators going live in the state.

North Carolina currently has two tribal retail sportsbooks on the western fringes of the state, though mobile operations have never been allowed.

Under H.B. 347, mobile sportsbooks like BetMGM North Carolina would be allowed to launch if they pay a $1 million licensing fee and meet a set of standards defined in the legislation.

North Carolina residents would be allowed to wager on professional and college sporting events as part of Saine’s bill, while the initial tax on sports betting would be 14%.

What To Know About the Bill

As part of H.B. 347, proceeds from online wagering would go towards a variety of state-centered causes, such as gambling addiction education ($2 million a year), youth sports upgrades ($1 million a year) and HBCU college athletic department support ($300,000 or an equal amount if less than that a year to each of the state’s seven schools).

There’s still a lot of legwork that needs to be done in Raleigh to get sports betting across the line in 2023, especially after a similar bill passed the state Senate before dying on the House floor by a 52-49 vote in 2022

Saine expressed confidence HB-347 is the right piece of legislation at the right time, telling WRAL-TV of Raleigh that both parties have coalesced around getting something done this legislative session.

"This bill is a bipartisan bill, and we've learned a good bit from both sides about some of the tweaks that needed to happen," Saine said. "We've worked to accommodate those concerns, and we believe we have a bill that can do better than pass. It can get broad support from both caucuses." 

Brendan Bussmann, who serves as the managing partner of B Global, sees H.B. 347 as a solid piece of sports betting legislation that succeeds where its predecessors failed, in getting support from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House.

“North Carolina already has sports betting but is leaving money on the table with [mobile sports betting] still on the sidelines,” Bussmann told BetCarolina.com. “The latest bill clearly has been debated behind the scenes for some time so let’s hope that’s a good sign for its future prospects.”

When online wagering does become legal in the state, BetCarolina.com will be your home for North Carolina sports betting promos.