Online North Carolina sports betting is live after months of waiting for sportsbook apps to launch.
Eight sportsbooks launched statewide online NC sports betting at noon ET on Monday. Since March 1, North Carolinians could sign up and deposit into sportsbook accounts during a pre-registration period. Now, players can make actual live wagers and claim NC sportsbook promotions.
Here is everything North Carolina needs to know about NC sports betting:
Live updates for NC online sports betting launch
Follow along for live updates about the launch of online sports betting in North Carolina.
- Tuesday, March 13, 10:52 a.m.: EPIC Risk Management did some work in the state before Monday’s launch, educating athletes about sports betting and giving training on navigating their new world, LSR reports.
- Monday, March 11, 2:26 p.m.: ESPN Bet is live in North Carolina, PENN Entertainment announced. North Carolina is the 18th state to get ESPN Bet, but this marks the first time ESPN Bet is on the start line with the competition.
- 1:28 p.m.: Gov. Roy Cooper made a ceremonial first bet on the Carolina Hurricanes to win the Stanley Cup. His office used the occasion to release a 59-second, produced video of the bet from PNC Arena right at noon. The tagling of the video reads: “Bet Responsibly, North Carolina.”
- 12:41 p.m.: Rep. Jason Saine shared a visual of geolocation spots throughout the state. Folks throughout North Carolina are accessing apps and making bets.
- 12:33 p.m.: Greg Olsen placed a ceremonial first bet for DraftKings at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Olsen told the crowd he was placing a $100 bet on Bubba Wallace to win the NASCAR Cup Series championship.
How to sign up for North Carolina sports betting
On Apple and Android smartphones, users can download the sportsbook apps at their respective app stores.
The sportsbooks ask for information for identity verification, such as name, address and social security number. Users must be at least 21 years old, and must be located within North Carolina to wager.
Operators in North Carolina require a photo of a government-issued ID or verification through secure online databases used by governments and businesses to verify identities.
Funding NC sports betting accounts
Users can deposit money into their accounts through various methods. Those methods include:
- Credit or debit cards
- Cash or cash equivalents
- Electronic funds transfers
Which NC sportsbooks are live?
There are eight sportsbooks live for sports betting Monday:
Caesars is licensed as a service provider and partnered with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, which holds the operator license.
Bet types available in North Carolina
NC sports betting operators can offer the following types of wagers:
- Moneyline
- Over-Under
- Straight
- Teaser
- Parlays
- Prop bets
- In-game wagering
- In-play wagers
- Pool
- Exchange wagering
What games can NC sports bettors wager on?
North Carolina bettors can wager on most professional leagues across the globe. North Carolinians will also have college football betting and college basketball betting, including player prop bets.
The full catalog can be found at NCGaming.gov. If a league is approved, wagers can be placed on:
- Exhibitions
- Pre-season
- Regular season
- All-Star Games
- All-Star contests
- Post-season
- Awards given or recognized by leagues
What North Carolina cannot bet on
Operators cannot offer a variety of markets. Those include:
- Esports not sanctioned by an approved governing body
- Virtual sports events
- Occurrences of injuries or penalties
- Officiating replay reviews
- High school and youth sports
- Penalties
Why NC sports betting launched Monday
North Carolina sports betting law mandated sports betting must launch between January 8 and June 15.
During the rule making process, regulators knew a launch by the Super Bowl would not happen. But they worked to ensure a launch in time for March Madness betting, a key user acquisition event for the industry.
The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament starts Tuesday with UNC and Duke as the top two seeds. The two North Carolina universities will also be high seeds during the NCAA Tournament, which starts next week.
What took so long in North Carolina?
North Carolina first legalized sports betting in 2019, but only in-person at tribal casinos.
Then, there was a long legislative journey to get to Monday’s launch.
Now, North Carolinians could bet up to $7 billion in the next 12 months, according to LSR projections.
