Lawmakers in North Carolina are to run the rule over a new bill that proposes legalizing online sports wagering in the US state.
Introduced in the state’s Senate by Senators Jim Perry and Paul Lowe, Senate Bill 688 would expand the North Carolina sports wagering market to allow online and mobile betting. Sports betting is currently only permitted via tribal operators.
SB 688 would allow the North Carolina State Lottery Commission to issue at least 10 interactive sports betting licenses to operators, but no more than 12 permits would be made available.
These licenses would enable operators to accept online bets on both professional and collegiate sports, as well as esports and amateur sports, such as the Olympic Games.
Licenses would cost $500,000, though this would be refunded in the event that an operator’s application is turned down. Permits would run for five years, after which operator would need to pay $100,000 to renew for a further five years.
The Commission would also make available service provider licenses at a cost of $25,000 each, with these permits allowing providers to work with interactive sports betting license-holders to offer wagering in the state.
Service provider licenses would also run for a period of five years and would cost $10,000 to renew.
Operators holding an interactive sports betting license would be subject to a tax rate of 8% on adjusted gross revenue from sports wagering activities in the state, payable on a monthly basis.
The bill also includes measures to establish a new self-exclusion system, which would allow players to voluntarily exclude themselves from placing sports bets with licensed operators in the state.
SB 688 was filed yesterday (April) and is awaiting further action in the Senate.
The new bill comes after North Carolina last month launched legal land-based sports betting.
The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and William Hill opened The Book, North Carolina’s first legal sports betting venue, at both of its Harrah’s Cherokee Casino sites in Cherokee and Murphy.
The state’s tribal sports betting bill was approved by the Senate in April 2019. Senate Bill 154 classed sports betting as a Class III gaming activity, meaning that the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians could offer it at both of its casinos under its Class III compact with the state.