North Carolina has moved closer to legalizing sports betting, after a bill that would do so was voted through by its state Senate.
House Bill 347 was introduced on March 13. It passed North Carolina’s House of Representatives on March 30 before being moved to the Senate, where it passed on its second reading.
If passed into law, the bill would allow bets to be placed on sports and horse racing in North Carolina.
Under the bill, a maximum of 12 interactive sports wagering licenses would be issued by North Carolina’s Commission. These licenses would cover professional sports, college sports, esports, amateur sports and any other sports event approved by the Commission.
The application fee for an interactive sports wagering license will be $1m, which will be refunded – minus 5% – if the application is successful. A $50,000 licensing fee is in place for service provider license applications, while a $30,000 application fee will be imposed for sports wagering supplier licenses.
All licenses are valid for a period of 5 years.
Last year, two sports betting bills were passed before the end of the legislative session in June, but did not make any further progress.