The North Carolina sports betting industry is off to a slow start as the state saw the lowest amount of bets in the initial three months of legalized mobile sports betting, with more than $525 million wagers placed in May. Despite this, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission reported that operators collected $63 million in gross wagering revenue, which will be taxed at 18%, resulting in over $11 million in taxes for the state.
Since March 11, when mobile sports betting launched in the state, operators have accrued more than $234.8 million in gross wagering revenue, leading to over $42 million in taxes being paid. However, May saw a decrease in betting activity due to the absence of major sporting events like NFL or NCAA football or college basketball. People in North Carolina placed $494.6 million in paid wagers and an additional $30.9 million in promotional wagers during this month.
The commission calculates this revenue by adding the revenue from paid wagers ($494 million) and promotional wagers ($30.9 million), then subtracting the amount of canceled or voided wagers ($3.8 million) and the winnings paid out ($458.6 million) to determine the gross wagering revenue of $63 million for May. North Carolina has issued licenses to eight sports betting companies to offer mobile sports betting in the state, with individual revenue figures for each company not being disclosed by the commission.
The tax revenue generated from sports betting benefits UNC System colleges except UNC and NC State, with each school set to receive $300,000 plus 20% of the remaining tax revenue after a deduction of initial $8.4 million for other purposes
