Earlier this month, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed HB 347 into law, legalizing mobile sports betting in the Tar Heel state. Cooper’s signature marked a major step forward for the state’s sports betting industry, and it shifts responsibility from the legislature to the regulator, the North Carolina Lottery Commission.
The legislature successfully passed HB 347, and now it’s up to the Lottery Commission to get mobile sports wagering up and running quickly, while ensuring a thorough regulatory process.
“Many people want to know when North Carolina will begin permitting legal sports betting,” Ripley Rand, chairman of the commission, said in a statement late last week. “The Commission and staff take these responsibilities seriously and are committed to ensuring the job is done in a complete, professional, transparent, and timely manner. We will keep the public up to date about when these programs will launch.”
HB 347 requires mobile sportsbooks to go live between Jan. 8, 2024 and June 14, 2024.
What will the commission do?
It’s up to the nine-member commission to regulate mobile sports betting in the state, and the commission recently shared an informational page to keep North Carolinians informed about its duties. Here are a few of the major tasks for the commission to complete in the coming months:
- Hire staff
- Draft and implement rules
- Prepare application materials for potential applicants
- Review license applications
- Support responsible gambling
- Monitor and enforce the law
The commission expects to hire additional staff in coming weeks to handle the workload. The entity also plans to hire legal and gaming advisers, and it must draft rules and regulations to create a selection process for potential licensees.
The commission is in the process of drafting rules to regulate sports betting and wagering on horse racing.
Early in the process
Adding the regulation of sports betting and horse wagering to the plates of a commission that also regulates the state’s lottery will make for a laborious few months.
“This Commission and the staff have been tasked with the enormous responsibility of licensing and regulating the newly enacted wagering activities while at the same time maintaining the quality work and highest standards of integrity with the Lottery,” Rand said.
As of now, the commission doesn’t have any sports betting meetings scheduled. There also isn’t a timeline for license application submission dates, although the commission plans to make those details public once it determines official dates and time frames.
