North Carolina to launch sports betting on March 11

North Carolina has pulled the trigger on sports betting with the State Lottery marking March 11 as the go-to date for sports betting in the Tar Heel State. Decided at a meeting earlier this week, the regulator has outlined how this process will work.

Although an official launch is set for March 11, consumers will be able to start registering much sooner, from March 1 onwards, which is good news for companies that are looking to grow their footprint locally.

The market is already seeing significant interest from operators with many confirmed names, including Bet365, BetMGM, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics, FanDuel, Underdog, Caesars, and Catawba Two Kings Casino among the entrants. A launch in March means that North Carolinians will also have the chance to bet on many games during March Madness, the most-anticipated sports betting event on a college level.

Among the bettors’ picks will be options such as Conference USA, MEAC, AAC, ACC, and others. State Lottery Chair Ripley Rand has welcomed the opportunity to pry betting volume away from illegal gambling operators and bring it to the regulated market:

"Bets on sporting events have been made for as long as those events have taken place, but this time they will be legal, they will be done securely and fairly, and they will be made under rules designed to encourage responsible gaming."

Understandably, marketing offers will be circulating before long, with companies trying to secure as much of a share in the new market as they can. Most of the names competing right now are established companies with the newer ones including Fanatics and ESPN Bet, as well as Underdog.

Most observers have welcomed the move as the illegal gambling market is indeed a persistent problem that regulators and lawmakers have been keen to resolve. Recognizing the need for a sports gambling market and executing a regulatory framework has been the next.

North Carolina sets the legal betting age at 21 which is aligned with most other states in the country, and it also enables bets on college sports, often a contentious topic among regulators who are keen to safeguard the integrity of the game, especially at a time of heightened incidence of fraud in college and professional sports brought around by sports betting. Still, regulators believe that regulating the industry is the best way to safeguard it.

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