NC Family Staff | October 28, 2024 | SHARE: 
After seeming to come out “ahead” during the first month of sports betting because of the “free play” offered by the gambling industry, North Carolinians have lost millions of dollars ever since. Sports betting became legal in 2023 after the passage of House Bill 347—Sports Wagering/Horse Race Wagering, and officially began in March of this year.
Due to the high-level of enticing promotional wagers offered in the initial launch of sports betting, North Carolinians came out $136 million “ahead” in the first month. But this net-positive was a false-high produced by the extreme $202.6 million in promotional wagers. Every month since then sports wagering North Carolinians have lost money, and before the end of September they had officially lost more than they gained in that first month. It’s the classic loss-leader, and it’s only going downhill from there.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission recently published its September Sports Betting Revenue Report. After 6 ½ months, “North Carolina’s online sports betting … continues to blow expectations out of the water.” That is how SBC Americas (SBC), a sports betting news source, describes the state of play (pun intended) regarding sports betting in North Carolina, noting that we “hit near-record levels in September” with the start of the NFL season.
SBC and other sports betting advocates excitedly reported that the total wagering revenue in September was more than $575 million. While promotional pushes by major sports betting outlets were included in that total, that still included over $538 million in paid wagering.
SBC refers to September as the “second-best month…in terms of gross revenue,” which includes promo wagers and personal losses. This means that a “better” month, from their perspective, is a month where North Carolinians lose more money.
According to SBC, North Carolina “is currently far exceeding the expectations for online sports betting that were laid out around the time of legalization.” Legislators projected $8.5 million in tax revenue from sports betting from March through June but actually took in more than $49.5 million. In fact, tax revenue was nearly $12 million in March alone. While this might sound good for the state coffers, it also means that North Carolinian families lost at least $80 million more than legislators estimated in the first four months alone.
September was, indeed, a record-setting month, but not just because of the $575.5 million in total wagering. In September alone, North Carolinians lost just over $33 million—or an average of more than $1 million per day.
If we estimate using an average of wagers and losses since May (setting aside March and April due to the disproportionate level of promotional wagers), North Carolinians would wager more than $5 billion a year—excluding promotional wagers—and lose more than $330 million. While the state collects a higher tax rate on sports wagering revenue than it does on sales tax, imagine all the better ways citizens could spend $330 million at North Carolina businesses instead of handing it over to big gambling businesses.
At the end of September, North Carolinians were slightly under $29 million in the red on sports betting for the month, and some estimate that we can expect that number to go up by more than $25 million a month. This is not promoting a thriving and prosperous North Carolina. Our families deserve better.
