2024 NSJ Newcomer of the Year

Legalized sports gambling arrived in NC and quickly became part of the state’s sports fabric

The DraftKings's Bubba Wallace NASCAR car is displayed outside the NASCAR Hall of Fame during an event celebrating the launch of mobile and online sports wagering across North Carolina, on March 11, 2024 (Erik Verduzco / AP Photo)

It was the perfect storm.

Sports betting became legal in North Carolina on March 11, the day before March Madness began with the tipoff of the ACC Tournament.

Yes, Roy Cooper placed the state’s first bet, on the Carolina Hurricanes, and lost. Yes, the Hornets played on the evening of the 11th, and lost. And yes, Davidson played in the A-10 Tournament earlier in the day on the 12th, and lost. But school teachers never borrowed the television cart from the library so the class could watch the Hornets or the A-10.

The ACC was college basketball in North Carolina, even when it’s tournament was being held in Washington, D.C., and college basketball is sports in North Carolina.

So, if a fan, flush with hundreds of dollars worth of free bets from creating an account with an online sports book or seven, placed a $100 moneyline bet on the first of the state’s teams to tip off in the ACC Tournament, they’ve have won about $20 profit when NC State beat Louisville.

They would be literally playing with free house money, so why not let it ride and keep playing the State moneyline until the Pack’s run was done? State would, of course, go on to pull upsets over Syracuse, Duke, Virginia and UNC over the next four days, which would have turned that initial $100 into $16,800. By the time the Pack cut down the nets to reach the Final Four, that $100 wager would have turned into $725,000.

Now, it’s unlikely that the sports books would have taken such large bets with a new customer, so getting nearly three quarters of a million dollars from a $100 bet probably didn’t happen for any North Carolinians. But, if someone had kept betting $100 on the Pack and pocketing the profit, they’d have pulled in $1,833 over the month.

FanDuel, Draft Kings and the rest of the online sports books couldn’t have imagined a better promotional offer to start the gambling era in the state than to have a popular, scrappy underdog go on a once in a lifetime run, and many North Carolinians spent the rest of the year making bets off of that initial boost to the bankroll that State’s run provided.

Much like a rivalry game between Big Four teams, sports gambling’s much-anticipated debut in North Carolina more than lived up to the hype. That’s what made the legalization of it our Newcomer of the Year for 2024.

It also should give the state the industry’s rookie of the year award. North Carolinians wagered $456 million of their own money, to go with $202 million in promotional cash, in the last 21 days of March. By November, that figure was still over $650 million, but the introductory offers were over, and $638 million came from paid wagers. That figure has increased in each of the last five months. For the year heading into December, North Carolina had bet $4.35 billion of their own money and a total handle (including promotions) of $4.79 billion. The state is on pace to top $5 billion for the year, which would have ranked it fourth in the U.S. last year, ahead of New York.

Of course, it’s the oldest adage in the state’s newest industry: The house always wins. State’s run ended in the Final Four, and it provided a windfall to the sports books. According to the New York Daily News, nationally, 93% of all moneyline bettors on the NC State-Purdue game in the Final Four picked the Pack—and lost. About three quarters of all point spread bettors also took the Pack—and lost.

Still, thanks to State’s run of upsets, there were fans in Glendale, Ariz. that day who financed their trip to watch the Pack in the Final Four with their gambling winnings.

Despite the initial hit to the sports books from State’s success, North Carolina bettors have consistently lost, creating $547 million in revenue. While there are legitimate concerns about North Carolinians losing more than $50 million a month gambling, the extra tax revenue from the new industry will put more than $30 million into North Carolina’s coffers this year. It also provides extra revenue to the athletics departments of the state’s schools.

Despite the concerns over problem gambling and other moral issues—such as the potential for game fixing—associated with sports betting, the industry’s growth is accelerating. In March, North Carolina was the 30th state to become legal. That number is now up to 38.

While the sports establishment used to consider gambling the one unforgivable offense, most of the state’s teams and venues have partnered with a sports book. That includes the Panthers, Hurricanes, Hornets, NASCAR, Charlotte Motor Speedway, the PGA and a host of golf courses.

It appears that sports gambling is here to stay, thanks in part to a big opening push from one of the madder Marches in recent memory.