(WGHP) – The numbers are there. In April, sports betting in North Carolina surpassed $1 billion since it became legal on March 11.
With every bet comes risk. North Carolinians lost about $105 million last month, but there could be significant rewards as well.
North Carolina receives 18% of the $105 million allocated to sports betting. Doing the math, North Carolina received $19 million in April. In total, North Carolina received about $31 million in gross betting revenue, which is a huge gain in the first 50 days of legalized sports betting.
“I would say North Carolina has certainly exceeded expectations in terms of how sports betting has rolled out in the state,” said Robert Linnehan, sports betting regulation reporter for Sports Betting Dime.
Linnehan was surprised to see the amount of money bet in April come so close to what people bet in March.
“We have to keep in mind that this is a historically dead time in the sports betting season,” he said.
From March 11 to March 30, shortly after launch, bettors bet around US$659 million.
“You had the NCAA Tournament,” Linnehan said.
In April, it fell only slightly to $649 million.
“In North Carolina, interest in sports betting is still very high,” he said.
“It’s very emotional for a lot of people. I know they were waiting to get involved in this,” said state gambling administrator Amanda Winters.
Amid the popularity, there are still concerns. Winters is tracking profit data as well as calls to the gambling helpline.
“We… have seen an increase in calls because the helpline is available in all the advertisements run by the carriers,” Winters said.
So while the state has seen a 77% increase in calls to the gambling helpline, you also have to take into account the fact that FanDuel, DraftKings and other operators simply share that number.
“We’ll have a better idea in three to six months, but it could take years,” Winters said of the game’s impact on the state.
It may also take a few more months of data to know what the state’s expected average revenue is.
“You’ll see I don’t mean a sharp drop in May, but I wouldn’t expect the May numbers to reach the April numbers,” Linnehan said.
Here are highlights of where state revenue goes:
- $2 million every year goes where Amanda Winters works at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services for education and treatment of gambling addiction.
- $1 million every year goes to youth sports
- $300,000 annually goes to 13 universities or colleges, including NC A&T State University, UNC Greensboro and Winston-Salem State University. They can get more if the state earns a certain amount.
- 30 percent of remaining proceeds go to the state’s games, events and attractions fund
- Half of the remaining proceeds go directly into the state’s general fund.
The state’s early estimates were that North Carolina would earn about $64 million in its first year. Doing the math again, the state is already halfway there.
