When North Carolina lawmakers legalized sports betting in 2023, the legislature’s fiscal research division estimated that it would take three full years before the state reached $6.6 billion in total wagers.
Instead, North Carolina sports gamblers hit that total in the first full fiscal year of legalized betting, according to figures released Tuesday by the NC Lottery Commission.
From July 2024 through June, bettors wagered more than $6.6 billion in paid ($6.4 billion) and promotional ($222,000) wagers. The eight legal sportsbooks will pay an estimated $116.4 million in taxes to the state. The books are taxed at 18% on gross wagering revenue.
Fiscal research at the time of passage indicated it would take until the 2027-28 fiscal year before the state collected $100 million in taxes in a single year.
