North Carolina regulators are trying to figure out what tweaks included in the new state budget will mean as they work to license online sports betting sites.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission met Wednesday and heard staffers are wrapping their heads around the recent legal sports betting developments and will update members “sooner rather than later” on the matter.
“There were a few changes to sports-betting language that… we are working hard to figure out what those mean for where we are in the process,” said Hayden Bauguess, director of government affairs at the lottery. “As soon as we get a better grip on understanding what that does for our role in the sports-betting process, we’ll put that out to the full commission.”
Plot twist
The comments from Bauguess were about provisions included as part of the state’s budget bill, passed by the North Carolina assembly last week. Gov. Roy Cooper has reportedly said he will allow the $30-billion spending plan to become law without his signature.
But buried in the budget are significant changes for North Carolina sports betting. While the state already has in-person wagering at three tribal casinos, online sportsbooks await authorization, which can happen as early as January or as late as mid-June of next year.
Although regulators are still sorting out what the budget will mean for getting mobile wagering off the ground, the early indication is that one tweak in specific will grant much more control of the North Carolina market to the state’s professional sports organizations.
Rather than allowing for 12 standalone online sports betting licenses, the budget bill amends the state's law to require mobile sportsbooks to partner with a professional sports organization. It also limits those teams and facility owners to just one sportsbook partner.
Budget accordingly
The change could mean fewer sports betting sites in North Carolina, as it may deter operators from entering the wagering market or leave others without a partner to provide them access. North Carolina was an intriguing state for companies given its sizable population and sports fandom, but how the licensing tweaks will affect that enthusiasm remains to be seen.
What is unchanged, however, is the timeline for implementing mobile sports betting in the state (regulators are also working to launch pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing). So far, comments by staff suggest they will still be able to launch within the six-month window provided by the state law.
Sterl Carpenter, the lottery’s deputy executive director of gaming compliance and sports betting, said a request-for-proposals for an “enterprise regulatory system,” which regulators would use to electronically accept and review license applications, failed to find a suitable bidder.
“As other states have done, staff will move forward with acceptance and review of applications without an automated system while ensuring the launch of sports betting prior to the statutory deadline,” Carpenter said.
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