Sports wagering in North Carolina won’t debut on January 8 of next year, which represents the start date of the beginning of the state’s latest law that permits mobile sports wagering. The reason for this is the ongoing discussion of the officials on licensing issues and the newest rules.

The state gambling regulator has a certain amount of time to launch sports wagering:

The state’s gambling regulatory body, the North Carolina Lottery Commission, has time till June 15 of next year to officially debut sports wagering in the aforementioned state. Commenting on the failed attempt to debut sports betting on January 8, the regulator said: “There is too much work to do to have sports betting start on Jan. 8.”

Few members of the Commission pointed out that January 8 was unfeasible throughout the meeting of the Commission’s sports betting Committee held on November 14, but didn’t specify an official start date. In addition, the state’s deputy executive director of sports wagering and gaming compliance, Sterl Carpenter, stressed that there still several steps that said regulator must take prior to the official start of gambling in North Carolina. On a related note, the aforementioned Commission has not yet agreed to receive applications from sports betting operators.

Requirements for operators:

As soon as operators file applications, the conditions are that they all go through an investigation and voluntarily submit to an internal controls. However, that’s not all, as they are also required to officially prove that they are not receiving bets from people located outside the state’s borders or on tribal and federal lands located in the state. In addition to that, Carpenter added according to Wral News: “They must detail their security and responsible gaming plans. However, that’s not a complete list.”

Another requirement for operators to be licensed in a state is that they need to possess a “written designation agreement“ with certain state leagues, teams and facilities. Relatedly, no such establishment has yet revealed an alliance with a sports wagering operator. Additionally, this exact provision was added to North Carolina’s budget, months after the original bill was passed.

Mobile sports betting:

Throughout the aforementioned meeting, Ripley Rand, the Commissioner, has asked Carpenter a question: “January 8th is the first date, but probably won’t be the date when betting is authorized.” In addition, Carpenter replied: “Absolutely correct.” Commissioner Cari Boyce added, stressing that daily board meetings would be needed to meet that deadline: “Thank you for clarifying this would not all be done by Jan. 8.”

Furthermore, the official validation of mobile sports wagering in the state occurred during the earlier months of 2023, when Governor Roy Cooper formally signed the legislation into law in June of this year. On that note, the aforementioned Committee has confirmed a huge catalog of events that may be wagered on the state, although operators are not not obliged to provide bets on every single one of them. However, it also confirmed modifications to its first set of rules, involving stripping away its controversial definition of “fantasy contests,” partly to permit regulations to progress and the entire process to advance more quickly.

Since the entire Commission hasn’t validated the modifications and catalog, it is still obliged to do so. Speaking of which, it has another meeting on November 16, where is projected to approve a set of regulations and the original catalog of events that may be placed wagers on and sports. It will also introduce a new website called NCGaming.gov. there.

As for the second set of regulations, it’s currently in the “public comment“ period. Those suggested rules involve advertising regulations and a ban on sports gambling firms from purchasing naming rights to sports facilities in the state. In this regard, spokesman for the Lottery Commission, Van Denton, commented in a statement: “The commission remains committed to ensuring that sports betting gets up and running in an effective and appropriate fashion as soon as possible, and at this time is on track to achieve that ahead of the June 15 deadline identified in the law.”