LegalSportsBetting Brief: NC To Launch Sportsbooks Next Year 12/22/2020

North Carolina will have legal sports betting launch in 2021 at both Harrah’s locations in the state.
Tribes in California received the required number of signatures to get legal sports wagering on the November 2022 ballot while Ohio continues to try for sports wagering legalization in 2020.
Sportsbooks FanDuel, Barstool, and BetMGM are all expanding into new markets in the nation and overseas.
Illinois, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. have all seen increases in monthly revenue from their sportsbooks.

CHARLOTTE – The sports betting industry continues to expand in the United States from upcoming legal industry launches to sportsbooks branching out into new markets, and new heights being reached in both handle and revenue nationwide.

The week was highlighted by Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina signing the Tribal Gaming Compacts that will allow legal sports wagering to enter his state in 2021.

Tribes in California also submitted a petition with the proper number of signatures to get sports betting legalization on the 2022 November ballot and Ohio continues to push to make gaming on sports legal all the way through the end of their 2020 session.

Various sportsbooks saw deals for expansions into the Caribbean, Latin America, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. And on the revenue side of things, Illinois, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. all recorded an uptick in monthly revenue from their sports betting markets.

North Carolina Governor Ensures NC Sports Betting Launch In 2021

Governor Roy Cooper of North Carolina has put his signature on the Tribal Gaming Compacts that include legal sports betting after well over a year of having the documents in his possession.

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI) submitted this paperwork in October 2019.

With the signatures of the Governor, the Secretary of State Elaine Marshall, and the Attorney General Josh Stein, the compacts have made their way to Washington, DC for a 45-day period that is open to comment or public opinion within the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Indian Affairs.

After that, the two Harrah’s locations in North Carolina will be able to launch their retail sportsbooks which is expected to occur no later than March 2021 but residents hope to see local sports betting by Super Bowl 55 on February 7, 2021.

CA Tribes Submit Petition To Get Sports Betting On 2022 Ballot, OH Senator Making Final Push For 2020

The California Nations Indian Gaming Association with California’s Coalition to Authorize Sports Wagering have submitted 1.4 million signatures to the state to get legal sports betting on the 2022 ballot for Californians to vote on the subject.

In order to get sports wagering on the ballot, 997,139 signatures on the petition need to be verified.

Legalizing gambling on sporting events in California requires an amendment to the constitution which is why the public needs to have their say by a vote on the pastime. Once the required number of signatures have been verified, the Golden State will see legal sports betting on their ballots in November 2022.

Ohio Senator John Eklund is making a final push to get sports betting legalized in the Buckeye State in 2020 with Sub. Senate Bill 111.

Bill sponsor Eklund has been an advocate to make sports gaming legal in Ohio for quite some time and will continue to be one should his bill not make it into law this session. However, he will be advocating from the sidelines next year as his term ends with Sub. Senate Bill 111 at the end of 2020.

The final day of the session is December 22. Eklund will continue to rally for his legislation to pass through the end of the year as special meetings are never out of the question even after a session ends.

Sportsbook Expansions in Latin America, Maryland, And Pennsylvania

FanDuel has partnered with The Cage Companies to open sports wagering within CAGE terminals in Latin America and the Caribbean. The first countries that will see FanDuel sports betting from this new partnering will be Bermuda and Barbados.

These are the only two locations named in the current agreement but FanDuel will have the ability to expand as CAGE expands its markets in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Puerto Rico and Brazil, two of the larger potential markets, are in the beginning stages of offering sports wagering access to their citizens. If CAGE is able to secure a liscence there, it would expand the sportsbook’s global reach even further in the future.

Penn National Gaming’s (PNG) new sportsbook, Barstool Sportsbook will be entering the Maryland sports betting market pending final approvals in 2021. PNG will be buying the Hollywood Casino Perryville for $31.1 million.

With Maryland legalizing gambling on sporting events by a vote in November, this will allow PNG to expand and add a sports betting area to the casino that will be a place for their new Barstool Sportsbook. The people of Maryland can expect to see the launch of this sports wagering venue in 2021.

BetMGM has made themselves the 11th mobile sports betting platform to enter the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At the beginning of the month, the gambling app launched internet casino gaming but they have now unveiled their sportsbook to Pennsylvanians everywhere.

With BetMGM’s sportsbook now available for download and use on mobile phones by gamblers of the Commonwealth, the Keystone State is quickly expanding their sports betting market to the point of one day being able to compete with New Jersey’s gaming industry.

Sports Betting Revenues Across The Nation

Illinois set a state record for handle in the month of October with $434 million placed in bets. Football wagers accounted for almost half of all activity with BetRivers and DraftKings being at the top of the leaderboard with sports bettors in the state. Ninety percent of wagers were placed with the use of mobile sports betting applications. Revenue for the month came in at $42.2 million with a state tax collection of $6.3 million.

Pennsylvania’s betting on sports dropped 6.4% from October to November, raking in $491.9 million in handle for November. While the number of wagers dropped, the revenue from month-to-month saw an increase of 9.9%, with $48.5 million brought into the Commonwealth from the sports gambling market. Taxes collected for November came in at $12,699,084.

Mississippi saw a whopping 113.2% increase on their year-over-year marks for sports wagering revenue in November. Handle for the month was $54,443,370.24, down 11.1% from October’s $61.2 million.

But revenue for November posted a final tally of $8.1 million, which is where the 113.2% uptick from November 2019 comes into play. The biggest sport for gambling activity in Mississippi for the month was football.

Washington, D.C. saw another month of increases for their sports wagering industry but the District is still under what projections estimated at the time of legalizing the market.

Of the two sportsbooks in the area, the lottery’s GambetDC mobile platform saw less activity than that of the temporary William Hill retail sportsbook at the Capital One Arena. GambetDC took 113,377 bets in November for a handle of $3,896,127.41 and a revenue of $882,678.

While William Hill on the other hand had 130,029 wagers placed for the month, with a handle of $13,704,406.59 and a revenue of over $2.7 million.

What’s Coming Up

The NFL and NBA will be holding games on Christmas Day that will equate to a number of options for gambling on sports. In the NFL, the New Orleans Saints (-320) will host the Minnesota Vikings (+260) at 4:30 p.m. EST on the FOX Network.

There will be five NBA games to the NFL’s one. The New Orleans Pelicans will face the Miami Heat at 12:00 p.m. EST, the Golden State Warriors will play the Milwaukee Bucks at 2:30 p.m. EST, the Brooklyn Nets will go up against the Boston Celtics at 5:00 p.m. EST, the Dallas Mavericks will meet the Los Angeles Lakers on the court at 8:00 p.m. EST, and the Los Angeles Clippers tip-off with the Denver Nuggets at 10:30 p.m. EST to round out a Christmas day of basketball.

The Ohio Legislature will hold its final meeting on December 22. Special meetings can be called at any time prior to the end of the year if needed. It’s during this final period that sports betting advocates in the state are hoping to pass Sub. Senate Bill 111 to legalize gambling on sporting events in the Buckeye State.

And sportsbooks are readying themselves for all of the College Bowls that will be taking place as this is the time of year for it. Bowl Games begin on December 21 going all the way through to January 2, 2021. Plenty of betting action on these events will be taking place as sportsbooks already have wagers posted for these events. The 2021 College Football Playoff National Championship game is set for January 11.

Advertising Disclosure

In order to provide you with the best independent sports betting news and content LegalSportsBetting.com may receive a commission from partners when you make a purchase through a link on our site.

Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.