Astonishingly Huge Dollar Amount Wagered In First Week Of North Carolina’s Legalized Sports Betting

The state of North Carolina had some big winners last week.  The University of North Carolina, North Carolian State, and Duke all made the NCAA Tournament's "Sweet Sixteen."  And the state itself made $7.7 million in tax revenue from $198 million wagered in the state's first week of legalized online sports betting.

The North Carolina State Lottery Commission announced some pretty staggering numbers when it comes to the state's first week of online sports betting.  Total wagered?  $198.1 million.  That breaks down to $42.7 million in gross wagering revenue and almost $8 million in tax revenue.  The numbers from the first day alone are eye-opening.  March 11 (day one) saw $23.9 million wagered with $11 million in gross revenue with $2 million in tax revenue for North Carolina.  I wonder what the numbers would look like if online sports betting had gone online before noon that day!

The understatement of the year when it comes to legal online sports betting in North Carolina comes from Sterl Carpenter, the NC State Lottery Commision's Executive Director of Gaming Compliance and Sports Betting (quite a title for a business card, yes?).  He tells sportshandle.com, “I think people liked the ability to wager in North Carolina on sports.”  On a similar note, it's been reported that fish apparently like to swim in water.

On a related online sports betting note, yesterday the NCAA announced it's pushing for a ban on player prop betting in college athletics.  Maryland and Ohio have already adopted such measures.  I understand the reason for this.  Of all things that can be manipulated by the seedy side of gambling, individual player stats are the easiest.  That being said, I kind of feel like once the toothpaste is out of the tube, it's hard to put it back.  That being said, North Carolina says it would consider such a measure if the NCAA asks.

Online sports betting in North Carolina is here to stay.  However, what you can and can't wager on (at least with college athletics) appears to be a more fluid situation.

There are certain places you think of when you think of gambling. Vegas, Atlantic City, Reno, but nowhere in North Carolina immediately comes to mind. Yes, we have options like Harrah's Cherokee Casino and the new Catawba Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain. Both are popular, but gambling in North Carolina doesn't have a chokehold on people the way it does in other states.

Last year the gambling industry saw record-breaking profits last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic. And it's not just casinos, sports betting is also extremely popular. (Personally, my teams give me enough stress I don't need money riding on it too). As the Kentucky Derby is fast approaching where millions of dollars will be bet, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2022’s Most Gambling-Addicted States.

WalletHub compared the 50 states across 20 key metrics to create this report. The data set ranges from the presence of illegal gambling operations to lottery sales per capita to the share of adults with gambling disorders.

View the full report here