In North Carolina, a current legislative session is scheduled to end on June 30. The state’s House of Representatives has until that time to make a decision regarding its sports gambling bills that have been sitting in limbo up to this time.
However, House Speaker Tim Moore has told members the June 30 deadline could be extended if additional work needs to be completed and that another floor session could take next Monday. He said the first order of business would be to approve the state’s budget.
Discussions are still on the table as to how to revive SB 38, the sports betting bill that recently passed in the House. The companion bill SB 688 was voted down last week, so the likelihood that the other sports betting bill could make it to the floor is minimal.
But not impossible.
Representative Jason Saine, who supports statewide mobile sports betting, told the Associated Press that is optimistic and said the bill “is not totally dead.”
He commented: “It could resurface depending on what happens. If not, sports wagering is going to remain an issue for the state of North Carolina because states around us are doing it.”
If a sports betting bill is passed and signed into law, the North Carolina Education Lottery Commission could issue up to 12 interactive sports wagering operator licenses, as well as licenses to both service providers and suppliers.
Players statewide would then be able to access online betting apps and place wagers through their mobile devices beginning in January.
Supporters of legalized sports gambling insist that having a regulated market in place would benefit the state due to tax revenue if a bill is signed into law.
Since the Supreme Court repealed PASPA in 2018, online gambling is currently available in 32 states, with 18 of those allowing for legal online sports wagering.
According to the US Census Bureau, those jurisdictions represent more than 166.9 million people.
During 2021, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened land-based betting operations at two of its casinos, due to previously passed North Carolina legislation.
