You could call it a win-win in the Tar Heel State.
North Carolina residents will soon have access to a collection of online sports betting sites, and those sites will soon have access to North Carolinians, which sportsbook operators believe will deliver a material bump to their businesses.
With a population greater than Michigan, and slightly less than Ohio, North Carolina is set to be a significant market when it launches legal online sports betting.
Customers will start signing up for mobile wagering accounts on March 1, and the betting will begin on March 11.
“It's a little smaller, population-wise, than Ohio, but it's a top-10 state and we expect it to be a great launch and contribute in a meaningful way,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said earlier this month during a call for analysts and investors.
Let us in!
DraftKings is one of nine operators currently on track to launch mobile wagering in North Carolina, which already has legal sports betting but only at three brick-and-mortar casinos.
The other mobile operators in line to launch include FanDuel, bet365, Fanatics Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, ESPN BET, and Underdog.
The presence of all the usual suspects in the state highlights its importance. So does the fact that 38 states have already legalized some form of sports betting, meaning the supply of new markets and customers is running out.
There are also just a handful of non-sports betting states remaining that are larger than North Carolina by population, making it an important get for some operators.
“We have been eagerly awaiting legal, safe, regulated online sports betting in North Carolina, a state with more than 10 million people and one of the most vibrant sports environments in the country,” BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt said in a press release in January.
Consider us 'commercially viable'
The exact amount of wagering that will take place in North Carolina will be revealed in time.
In Michigan, however, the relatively mature market (which is around 800,000 people smaller than North Carolina) produced nearly $5 billion in legal sports betting last year. In Ohio, which has about a million more people than North Carolina, the state’s handle for 2023 was $7.7 billion, according to data from VIXIO GamblingCompliance.
That range is enticing for some operators.
Privately held bet365 reported in its most recent financial statements that it has "invested significantly" in its U.S. business, including successful launches in Kentucky and Louisiana. The U.K.-based firm added that it plans to "continue to pursue licenses in markets with commercially viable regulation."
North Carolina, with its $1-million licensing fee and 18% tax rate, checked that box for bet365. Barring any other launches, the Tar Heel State will become the tenth in which bet365 is licensed and live with mobile wagering.
A per-capita perk
ESPN BET-operator PENN Entertainment Inc. noted earlier this month that the legal launch of online sports betting in North Carolina would add 3% of the U.S. population to its total addressable market for mobile wagering.
That, combined with the plan to launch ESPN BET in New York, will “significantly expand our reach and scale,” PENN CEO Jay Snowden said during their earnings call.
PENN also expects the launch in North Carolina will help lower its spending on nationwide marketing with ESPN on a per-capita basis by around 20%.
That is because the casino operator is gaining access to more customers while the $150 million a year it pays to ESPN (which includes the right to use the ESPN name for online sports betting) remains static.
“Very important for us as most of our ESPN and off-channel marketing spend is nationally focused,” Snowden said.
