In North Carolina, the General Assembly will meet from May 18 through June 30 for its 2022 legislative session. It will last just a month and a half, since it’s an even year; in odd years, lawmakers meet for a full year. Despite the short session, the mobile sports betting statute Senate Bill 688, which was approved by the state Senate 26-19 last August, is expected to pass.
State Rep. Jason Saine, who is ushering the bill through the House, said, “I don’t think it’ll be a close vote. I’m certainly gonna push to move forward fairly quickly. As soon as we can get it on the schedule, we’ll roll with it. Good conversations all around with my colleagues, even those who are opposed. There are honest differences, and that’s OK. I’m ready to get this one behind us and move on to something else.”
The bill is expected to be reviewed in the House Finance and House Rules committees before it’s sent to the full House for a vote, Saine said.
A recent poll conducted by WRAL News found 52 percent of North Carolina voters support legalizing online sports betting. The sports betting bill would allow wagers on professional sports, college sports, amateur sports and esports.
The law would allow 10 to 12 mobile sports betting licenses to be issued to qualified interactive gaming platform providers like DraftKings and BetMGM and also allow tribal casinos to operate online sportsbooks. The one-time licensing fee would be $500,000. Sportsbook revenue would be taxed at 8 percent; half would go to the state’s General Fund and half to the North Carolina Major Events, Games and Attractions Fund, which would give grants to local governments and nonprofits to attract various entertainment events.
In addition, mobile sportsbooks would be allowed to partner with small businesses like bars and convenience stores, which could install sports betting kiosks in brick-and-mortar establishments.
Previously, Governor Roy Cooper said he would sign SB 688 so the state could benefit from an activity that’s already occurring in the state. He said, “It’s here whether we like it or not. The issue is will North Carolina be on the cutting edge for the technology jobs and other employment that it will create and be able to get state taxpayers their cut, or are we just going to let it happen all around us? I think it’s time for us to step up and do it.”
In July 2019, North Carolina lawmakers and Governor Roy Cooper amended the state’s Class III gaming compacts with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and the Catawba Tribe. On-site sports wagering debuted at the Eastern Band’s Harrah’s Cherokee and Harrah’s Cherokee Indian Valley tribal casinos in spring 2021 and is expected at the Catawba’s Two Kings Casino Resort in Kings Mountain when permanent facility opens in 2023.
