North Carolina Sports Betting Hopes Likely Over In 2022

• North Carolina sports betting hopes likely done in 2022 following rejected initiatives during the House committee hearing.
• Two sports betting bills needed to advance, one narrowly passed and the other was narrowly rejected.
• Lawmakers amended the bill to outright ban college sports.

RALEIGH, N.C. — The early optimism surrounding regulated online sports betting passing in North Carolina came to a close as lawmakers rejected one sports betting bill.

There were two bills being discussed, SB 688 and SB 38, the latter narrowly passed to a 51-50 vote while the former was rejected by a vote of 49-52.

Since both bills were needed to advance for the main House floor to vote, it is safe to assume sports betting hopes in North Carolina are done for in 2022.

North Carolina Sports Betting Takes Steps Back

There was optimism that North Carolina would advance sports betting ahead of the House committee meeting on Wednesday. During the meeting, however, lawmakers showed early on their disagreements with the current bills.

One major amendment came with SB 38 Lawmakers prohibited all forms of college betting at NC sportsbooks. This would have made North Carolina the only market to outright ban college betting.

In contrast, Oregon doesn’t allow college sports odds at its one online sportsbook in DraftKings, but local tribal casinos can offer college odds. This measure was agreed on, voted 51-50, and narrowly advancing.

Shortly after this vote, SB 688 failed altogether. The original vote was 50-51, then a chamber member changed their vote, resulting in 49 yays to 52 nays.

A motion was brought forth for the bill to be moved to the House Finance Committee to be amended further, but this motion was denied by the committee.

With the June 30 deadline incoming, this may be the end of the 2022 efforts for betting in North Carolina.

There Is Some Optimism

While things may look grim in the Tar Heel State surrounding mobile and online betting, lawmakers have not given up hope entirely.

“It could resurface depending on what happens,” said Jason Saine, House Rep in Lincoln County. “If not, sports wagering is going to remain an issue for the state of North Carolina because … states around us are doing it.”

Rep. Jason Saine believes the bill is not totally dead, holding out hope that something can be agreed upon before the deadline.

Sports betting still has the support of Gov. Roy Cooper who already stated he would sign a sports betting bill into law if it passed in both chambers.

There is less than a week before the deadline approaches. Can NC pass sports betting in time?

News tags: Charlotte | Charlotte Hornets | House Judiciary Committee | North Carolina | Raleigh | Roy Cooper | SB 38 | SB 688