Online sportsbooks held up extremely well against North Carolina sports bettors in July.
The North Carolina Lottery Commission reported that the eight mobile operators combined to produce $42.2 million in revenue on a $340.4 million handle, a hefty 12.4% hold.
| N.C. Sports Betting | Handle | Revenue | Tax (estimated) |
|---|---|---|---|
| July | $340,375,353 | $42,226,040 | $7,600,686 |
In one of the slowest sports months of the year, the amount wagered fell 14.2% compared to June, but revenue jumped 4.7% in July as the win rate rose from 10.1% in the previous month.
Promotional credits fell from $16.5 million in June to $12.4 million in July while more than $2.7 million of wagers were canceled or voided. Bettors took home $295.4 million for the month.
The Tar Heel State filled its coffers with an estimated $7.6 million, up from $7.2 million in June from the 18% tax rate.
New year
North Carolina hasn’t even had its first football season yet. That’ll begin later in August.
But the college sports-heavy state with an NFL team to boot kicked off a new fiscal year in July. The Tar Heel State generated more than $57 million of tax revenue in the first five months of online sports betting in North Carolina, an average of nearly $5 million per month.
Sports betting operators’ revenue has already exceeded $315 million while more than $2.5 billion has been wagered since the March launch.
Saine moving on
One of North Carolina’s instrumental political leaders in getting sports betting passed in 2024 resigned from his legislature position earlier this month. Rep. Jason Saine (R-Lincoln) left to pursue new opportunities and spend time with his family after serving in the House since 2011.
Saine called sports betting his biggest legislative achievement during a recent interview with Brett Jensen of WBT News.
I enjoyed talking with Brett yesterday. @Brett_Jensen 8-7-24: NC Rep Jason Saine Calls It Quits https://t.co/M2ChuDv0yU
— Rep. Jason Saine (@JasonSaine97th) August 8, 2024
“Really for me, the high was getting sports betting passed because it took so much work on the back end,” Saine said. “That’s a personal thing, not necessarily from a policy thing. Taking a one-vote deficit and losing on the House floor the year before and then coming back with a 20-plus vote win in the State and House was huge for me.
“We invested a lot of time, a lot of energy, and a lot of time with colleagues talking one-on-one and finding out what they did and didn’t like about it.”
