Although online sports betting is now legal in North Carolina, it was a long journey getting there. The state’s stance on betting went from zero tolerance, to very slowly allowing limited forms of in-person gambling, then opening the door wide open to everything.
It is now much easier to place a bet on MLS in this once anti-gambling state than in many others that would be seen as more progressive places to live.
This is good news for North Carolinian MLS fans, because now they have full access to all betting markets relating to Major League Soccer, although most will likely focus on the fortunes of Charlotte FC, North Carolina’s own Major League Soccer team.
Betting History
Historically, North Carolina was very conservative about gambling.
The first anti-gambling state laws can be traced back to 1749, when gambling debts of £100 or more were invalidated, discouraging high-value bets among the elites of the day. This was reduced to debts of any amount a few years later, and all forms of public gambling were banned.
Almost every kind of betting remained illegal up until 1994, apart from a state lottery and a brief dalliance with pari-mutuel betting on the horses and dogs in the 1940s, but due to public pressure that didn’t last long.
As is the case with so many other US states, it was the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) of 1988 that got the ball rolling. The new law allowed federally recognized tribes to operate casinos on their lands, but only if they signed compacts (agreements) with their state governments. This is exactly what the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians did in North Carolina in 1994, with the first casino, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, opening in 1997. However, what they could offer was tightly controlled.
Bingo and poker machines were allowed, but slots and table games were not. Still, it ended the centuries long resistance to legal gambling in the Tar Heel state. The compact was renegotiated as time went on, and more gambling products were allowed including in person sports betting in 2018, which directly paved the way for the 2024 state law change.
This came off the back of the PASPA repeal, when the federal government removed nationwide restrictions on gambling and handed that power to state law makers instead.
Online Sports Betting Legalized in 2024
Despite sports betting now being allowed at casinos on Indian reservations, there weren’t that many of them, and those that existed were close to state lines, so most North Carolinians still couldn’t bet without travelling a very long way.
However, when the first Indian run sportsbooks opened in 2021, the popularity of the betting terminals showed that demand for this sort of thing was high, and state law makers immediately took notice. This was an opportunity to make tax money, and Senate Bill 688 was tabled to get online sports wagering over the line in 2022. The bill made it through the Senate, but did not pass the House.
In 2023, House Bill 347 attempted to settle some of the issues raised the previous year such as procedural fairness, licensing, and public oversight, and was successful. Governor Roy Cooper signed the bill into law on June 14th, 2023, and placed a ceremonial first bet – although it wasn’t on MLS.
The North Carolina Lottery Commission was made the regulatory body, and could issue up to 12 licenses to online betting operators, but they would have to adhere to geolocation and identity verification rules, as well as partner with a North Carolina professional sports organisation or venue.
The tax rates and other rules are as follows:
- Minimum age of 21 to place a bet
- Bettors must be inside state lines when placing the bet
- 18% tax paid by operators
- 5.25% tax on winnings paid by customers
- Retail sportsbooks allowed at tribal casinos and select sports venues across North Carolina
This raised $116+ million of tax in the first year of operation, with that money going towards amateur youth sport and athletics programs, gambling addiction prevention, and education.
So now, MLS fans can bet on their team from one of several mobile betting apps wherever they are, so long as they are inside the Tar Heel state.
Charlotte FC: North Carolina’s MLS Team
North Carolina got their very own MLS team ahead of the 2022 season, Charlotte FC. However, Charlotte had been gunning for an expansion spot since Major League Soccer began.
They were on the list of places to be considered back at the launch of MLS in 1994, and made several unsuccessful expansion bids in the years that followed. After they finally got their wish, they broke the single match attendance record in their first ever game, with 74,479 fans cramming into the Bank of America Stadium to support.
Safe to say that soccer is popular in the state then, and in fact, there have been teams playing there since the 1900s. Charlotte wasn’t the only city to try for an MLS spot either. Raleigh was considered to be a much stronger prospect, especially since a long established soccer club, North Carolina FC, were based there, and even changed their name from the Carolina Railhawks to make the bid more appealing.
Charlotte got it in the end, partly due to the location and infrastructure there, and partly because David Tepper, who had just bought the Carolina Panthers (NFL team), decided he also wanted to get involved with soccer, and was able to drop a big bag of cash on the project.
Charlotte FC haven’t exactly set the league on fire since they joined, but have consistently finished mid-table and made it to the playoffs most years. Most impressive is their average attendance, which is one of the very best in the entire league. In 2024 it dropped about 8% to 33,383, and was still the second highest in the whole of Major League Soccer. That shows you that North Carolinians are a passionate lot when it comes to soccer, so the addition of Charlotte FC is of great benefit to MLS on the whole.