It’s officially March Madness. Even if the Tar Heels didn’t make the men’s tournament, college basketball is going to be everywhere for the next couple of weeks. But you still can’t put a bet down in North Carolina for Duke to take the national championship. Well, at least not legally.

A bill last year that would have legalized sports gambling in North Carolina was rejected with a narrow vote in the state House. But a bipartisan group of representatives is bringing the proposal back up again.

More than 30 states have made betting on sports legally in some fashion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court decided states could decide for themselves to legalize sports betting.

In North Carolina, tribal casinos already take sports bets, but House Bill 347 would make sports wagering legal statewide.

This year’s bill is nearly identical to the legislation hashed out in the General Assembly last year.

 

What sports would be open to gambling?

The bill essentially opens all sports to gambling, including college sports, professional leagues, amateur sports and electronic sports, also known as competitive video games.

It’s easier to list what people cannot bet on under the bill. People cannot place bets on youth sports. Bets would also not be allowed on injuries, penalties, the outcome of a replay review, and the outcome of a disciplinary proceeding against a player.

 

Where could people place bets?

People within the state’s borders would be able to log on and place bets on their phones or computers.

Sports books, with in-person bets, would only be allowed within a half-mile of “sports facilities,” which the bill defines as a facility that is home to a professional team like PNC Arena in Raleigh, home to the Carolina Hurricanes, or the Spectrum Center, home of the Charlotte Hornets.

They would also be allowed to set up at NASCAR tracks that seat at least 17,000 people, and temporarily at professional golf tournaments with at least 50,000 spectators.

The bill lays out a framework for the state to issue 10 to 12 licenses for sports betting companies.

Gamblers would have to be 21 or older.

 

Bill includes new fees, taxes

Companies that want to get into sports betting in North Carolina would have to pay $1 million just to get a license. The companies would have to pay a 14% tax on betting revenue.

That could end up being a lot of money for state coffers.

Sixty percent of the income from sports betting would go to the state’s general fund and 30% would go to establish the North Carolina Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund.

The new fund would help bring new attractions, sporting events and other big events to North Carolina.

That leaves 10% of the revenue to be divided up:

  • $2 million a year to the Department of Health and Human Services for gambling addiction and treatment
  • $1 million a year to the North Carolina Division of Parks and Recreation to give each county money for improving youth sports facilities and buying equipment
  • $1 million for the North Carolina Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council to attract sporting events and support travel
  • $300,000 each to support athletics at Elizabeth City State University, Fayetteville State University, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, North Carolina Central University, UNC Asheville, UNC Pembroke and Winston-Salem State University
  • If there’s any money leftover, it would be divided evenly for the athletic departments at each of those seven universities

 

What happened with the last bill?

The Senate passed the Sports Wagering bill in August 2021 with a bipartisan majority of 26-21. The House was slow to pick up the bill and did not begin debating sports betting in committee for almost a year.

But once the House decided to move on the bill, it went quickly to the floor for a vote right at the end of the year’s session. On the floor of the House last year, representatives considered two different bills to make sports wagering legal. One of those failed in a 50-51 vote and the other by 49-52.

This was not one of those bills that divided neatly along party lines. Democrats and Republicans in the two chambers of the General Assembly voted on both sides of the issue.

Advocates for sports betting say lots of people already bet on games in North Carolina online or through local bookies.

 

Will this bill actually make it?

Gov. Roy Cooper said last year that he supported legalizing sports betting in North Carolina.

Social conservatives remain a strong bloc in the General Assembly, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have opposed the bill for moral or religious reasons.

“These gambling bills conflict with my values,” Wake County Democrat Rep. Abe Jones told the Associated Press last year. “I’m not going to use my vote from this place to support gambling. I think it’s wrong.”

“I certainly understand the concerns of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but I also disagree with them,” Mecklenburg County Democrat Rep. Wesley Harris said in 2022, the AP reports. “The black market does exist, and people are already gambling. But there is no regulation, and there’s no help for those people.”

The new Sports Wagering bill was filed Monday and was sent to the House Commerce Committee. It will be up to the House Republican majority to decide how soon to take up the measure.