North Carolina regulator confident of meeting mobile sports betting launch deadline despite framework changes

The North Carolina State Lottery Commission held its latest meeting Wednesday, during which the upcoming launch of mobile sports betting in the state was briefly discussed.

Mobile sportsbooks are expected to receive approval to go live in North Carolina during the first half of 2024, with a mandate from legislation to have the market operational no later than mid-June 2024, and possibly as early as January.

Sterl Carpenter, the commission’s deputy executive director of gaming compliance and sports betting, expressed optimism about meeting the June deadline, despite recent changes to the state's mobile system. He stated: "We will get sports betting and parimutuel wagering up and running before the deadline."

The commission also approved basic rulemaking procedures to draft legal sports betting regulations in preparation for the mobile launch. Chairman Ripley Rand described this step as the "starter pistol" to initiate the process.

However, the commission faced challenges in its efforts to establish a system for accepting mobile betting license applications. A request for proposal (RFP) for an electronic system received four submissions that did not meet the commission's requirements.

As a result, the commission decided not to award a contract at this time. Instead, they plan to handle application submissions internally and create a new RFP for a system that can serve their needs in the long term.

The commission has also formed a sports betting committee, consisting of Chairman Ripley Rand and commissioners Cari Boyce and Pamela Whitaker. This committee will be chaired by Cari Boyce and will address sports betting issues that do not fit into other committees' agendas.

The committee is set to begin meeting soon, although specific meeting times have not yet been established. The commission anticipates holding special meetings in late October and late November to provide updates and engage in discussions related to sports betting.

The recent state budget bill has introduced significant changes to North Carolina sports betting, including requiring mobile sportsbooks to partner with professional sports organizations and limiting teams and facility owners to just one sportsbook partner. These changes could potentially impact the number of sports betting sites in the state.

Despite these developments, the timeline for launching mobile sports betting in North Carolina remains unchanged, with operators aiming to launch within the six-month window provided by state law. The commission is also working to introduce pari-mutuel wagering on horse racing.