North Carolina Sports Betting

By Jack Kitson

Last Updated: Thursday 27th July 2023

Editor’s note: As of Jan. 19, 2021

North Carolina became the seventh state to approve sports betting in 2019 and Gov. Roy Cooper signed the bill into law on July 26, 2019.

The law allows sports and horse betting at two Harrah’s casinos operated by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians – Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, N.C., and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino in Murphy.

The approved sports betting bill has a narrow scope, and mobile betting is prohibited as of now. All sports bets much be placed on casino property.

Both properties, according to officials, need major technological upgrades to support sports wagering and a fairly extensive remodeling to accommodate the new sportsbooks.

A bit of a hindrance for the Harrah’s casinos is that neither high on the list of being geographically desirable. The casinos are both in Western North Carolina and are three hours from Charlotte and almost two hours from a major airport.

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A little more than a month after the governor signed bill, another piece of legislation that landed on his desk seeking a study on further expansion of gambling in the state. The state lottery has been charged to look at:

· Consider probability of mobile/online betting

· The amount of revenue the state might see from licensing and tax revenue

· Positive and negative impact of sports betting

· Layout structure for regulation of sports wagering

The goal is to have the study complete by mid-April 2020.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic however, despite sports betting being legal - there is currently nowhere to place a bet legally within the state.

Is sports betting currently legal in the state?

Yes, but it as yet to be implemented. Officials hope to have the operation up and running in the near future.

What is the legal age to bet on sports in North Carolina?

21 years old

What restrictions are there on sports betting in North Carolina … is online wagering allowed?

There is no mobile or online component of the sports wagering bill, which allows bets on “professional and collegiate sports contests.” The bill also permits horse race wagering.

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The people behind this page

The BettingOdds.com's online gambling content experts who helped write, edit and check this page:

Jack Kitson

Jack Kitson is the Editor of Betting Odds and The Sack Race. He is an NCTJ-qualified sports journalist who has accumulated over 10 years of experience in the sports betting industry. His work on The Sack Race was honoured by a panel of experts at the Football Blogging Awards where it was named the Best Gambling Football Blog. Jack created the popular YouTube series ‘In The Managers Office’ featuring exclusives with Chris Wilder and Ian Holloway, while his work has been referenced within numerous publications such as The Guardian, BBC Sport, The New York Times, and Washington Post.