FanDuel has found a way into the rising legal sports betting market in North Carolina.
The online sportsbook’s partnership and new deal with the PGA Tour will secure FanDuel an operating license in the Tar Heel State, according to a report from the Sports Business Journal.
The sports betting law, which goes into effect next month, allows for operators to partner with sports venues, teams, and leagues. FanDuel is already an official betting partner of the PGA Tour, which has a pair of tournament stops in North Carolina on the 2024 schedule.
“We have a great relationship with the Tour and we have every intention of continuing that,” FanDuel president Christian Genetski told SBJ. “Building off an existing partner made it a pretty easy conversation to get to the parameters of a deal that we were very comfortable with.”
Details and length of the deal weren’t disclosed, but FanDuel, one of the top online presences in the U.S. market, will have its app among operators in the Tar Heel State when sports betting goes live sometime in 2024. A launch date has yet to be determined.
Other deals
FanDuel’s access to North Carolina comes on the heels of another golf-related deal struck earlier this week. ESPN BET partnered with Quail Hollow Club, an N.C. venue that hosts the PGA Tour’s Wells Fargo Championship.
The NBA’s Charlotte Hornets were the first sports entity in the Tar Heel State to land a partner when it struck a deal with bet365 last month.
That makes three of the 12 operators that will gain access to North Carolina sports betting. The state’s lottery commission opened up the application process last week and already reported there are 11 operator applicants.
Future moves
There are plenty of other partnerships to be announced in the coming weeks and months between operators and North Carolina sports entities, including the Carolina Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, and NASCAR’s Charlotte Motor Speedway.
The commission is looking to have operators apply by Dec. 27 so they’ll have a clearer timeline for completing background checks and compliance. Then, a “go live” date can be announced.
The next step toward online sports betting in North Carolina is passing a second set of proposed rules by the commission. The sports betting committee approved changes to the second regulation this week, removing a rule that didn’t allow operator naming rights to North Carolina venues.
