States / North Carolina

North Carolina

Statewide online and expanded retail sports betting have been legal since January 2024, taxed at 18%.
Retail sports betting began earlier at the Cherokee and Catawba tribal casinos.
There are no commercial casinos or legal historical horse racing, and electronic sweepstakes machines are banned.

More detail

Sports betting. North Carolina authorized statewide online and expanded retail sports wagering effective January 2024 (N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 18C, Article 9). The N.C. State Lottery Commission regulates it, and it is taxed at 18% of gross wagering revenue.
Tribal gaming. Retail sports wagering began earlier at the state's tribal casinos. The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' Harrah's Cherokee properties started in 2021. The Catawba Nation's Two Kings Casino started in 2022.
Casinos and racing. North Carolina has no commercial (non-tribal) casinos and no legal historical horse racing.
Sweepstakes and video poker machines. A long-standing broad ban on electronic sweepstakes and video poker machines (G.S. § 14-306.4) was upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2012. It continues to generate enforcement disputes over "fish game" arcades and sweepstakes parlors.
Pending legislation. A 2025 bill (HB 999) to legalize video gaming terminals remains pending in committee with no further action identified.

Reviewed Oct 11, 2026 · 34 sources

Legal status

LiveLegal, not launchedLimitedContestedProhibitedNot authorizedRepealedNA

Vertical	Status	Launched	Model	Details
Sports (online)	Live	Mar 11, 2024	Competitive	Up to 12 interactive sports wagering operator licenses contemplated at passage; a later 2023 amendment required online operators to hold a written designation agreement with an in-state sports team/facility/governing body, narrowing the practical field. As of Oct. 2026 the Lottery Commission's approved-licensee list shows 7 interactive operators (FanDuel, BetMGM, DraftKings/Crown NC, Fanatics, bet365, theScore Bet, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' tribal gaming enterprise). N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 18C-901 et seq. [1],[2],[3]
Sports (retail)	Live	Mar 2021	Hybrid	A 2019 law let tribal gaming compacts be amended to add retail sportsbooks; Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opened the first retail sportsbook in 2021, Catawba Nation followed in 2022. The 2023 law (effective Jan. 2024) additionally authorizes retail wagering at 8 designated professional sports venues. N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 18C, Article 9 [1],[4]
Online casino	Not authorized			No iGaming/online casino statute identified; not addressed by Chapter 18C.[3]
Online poker	Not authorized			[3]
Commercial casinos	Not authorized			North Carolina has no commercial (non-tribal) casino statute; all land-based casino gaming is tribal.[1]
Tribal casinos	Live	Nov 1997	Monopoly Tribal	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians operates Harrah's Cherokee (opened Nov. 1997; table games added 2012 under an amended compact) and Harrah's Cherokee Valley River (opened Sept. 2015, Murphy). Catawba Indian Nation opened Catawba Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain (temporary facility, July 2021) on land taken into trust; the Catawba's primary reservation is in South Carolina, so its NC gaming authority rests on federal land-into-trust/Catawba-specific legislation rather than a conventional state compact. 25 U.S.C. § 2701 et seq. (IGRA); 1994 Tribal-State Gaming Compact (EBCI), as amended 2012 [1]
Lottery	Live	Mar 30, 2006	Monopoly State	The State Lottery Act (S.L. 2005-344, H.B. 1023) passed the Senate 25-24 on a tie-breaking vote by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue on Aug. 30, 2005, and Gov. Mike Easley signed it the next day, Aug. 31, 2005, creating the N.C. State Lottery Commission and new Chapter 18C. The North Carolina Education Lottery sold its first instant (scratch-off) tickets Mar. 30, 2006, with the first online draw game (Powerball) following May 30, 2006 (NCEL joined Powerball May 28, 2006 per a secondary source; dates differ by two days). Net lottery revenues transfer at least quarterly to the Education Lottery Fund (G.S. § 18C-164); after funding a reserve and the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, the General Assembly appropriates the remainder each year for education-related purposes. N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 18C (State Lottery Act, S.L. 2005-344, H.B. 1023) [5],[6],[7]
iLottery	Live	Nov 2023	Monopoly State	The N.C. Lottery Commission voted the evening of Aug. 15, 2023 to begin selling "Digital Instant Games" (eInstants) online by Nov. 15, 2023; officials said a 2023 budget-law provision banning "casino-style" lottery games did not bar these online instant games. Games launched in mid-November 2023 (secondary sources differ between Nov. 14 and Nov. 15) through vendor NeoPollard Interactive. Players create an online account and provide the last four digits of their SSN to verify identity and age 18+.[8],[9],[1]
Daily fantasy	Live			A dedicated statutory carve-out, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-902(e), exempts "fantasy or simulated games or contests" from the sports-wagering Article where winning outcomes reflect players' relative knowledge/skill and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistics of individual performance — keeping peer-to-peer DFS outside both Article 9's sports-wagering licensing and Chapter 14's general gambling prohibition. A 2017 bill that would have required DFS operators to register with the Secretary of State failed in a House committee. The Lottery Commission's sports-wagering rules separately define "fantasy contests" in nearly the same terms and carve pick'em-style, proposition-mimicking products back out of the DFS definition, which are instead regulated as sports wagering.[10],[11],[12],[13]
VGTs / VLTs	Prohibited			Video poker was phased down starting 2000 (3-machine-per-location cap, no new machines) and fully banned effective July 1, 2007 under Session Law 2006-6, except under a tribal-state compact. A legalization bill, House Bill 999 (2025-2026 session), would create a licensed VGT framework under the State Lottery Commission (up to 3 terminals/location, up to 3 more based on a net machine revenue benchmark; central-monitoring-system connection required; a dedicated NC Video Gaming Fund for law enforcement and other allocations). It was filed April 10, 2025 and referred to the House Rules, Calendar, and Operations Committee on April 14, 2025, with no further action identified as of Oct. 2026. 2006 N.C. Sess. Laws ch. 6; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-306.4 [1],[14]
Historical horse racing	Not authorized			No HHR statute has been enacted. In 2023, the Senate Rules and Operations Committee stripped an HHR provision from an amended version of House Bill 347 (the mobile sports-betting bill) before it became law, and no separate 2025-2026 HHR legalization bill was identified; general prohibitions on unlicensed gambling devices and the sweepstakes/video-gaming-machine ban (§ 14-306.4) would otherwise apply to HHR terminals.[15],[16]
Sweepstakes casinos	Prohibited			G.S. 14-306.4 broadly bans operating an electronic machine or device to conduct or promote a sweepstakes through an "entertaining display" (video poker, bingo, simulated slot-style games, etc.); upheld by the N.C. Supreme Court in Dec. 2012. The statute predates dual-currency online sweepstakes casinos and was written against brick-and-mortar sweepstakes parlors. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-306.4 [15]?
Prediction markets	Not authorized			CFTC-registered event contracts on sports (Kalshi, Polymarket-style platforms) are available to North Carolina residents statewide under claimed federal preemption; no North Carolina regulator, Attorney General, or court has acted against or for them as of October 2026, despite a wave of such actions in other states since 2025. Absent state action, the activity would otherwise fall under North Carolina's general gambling statute (N.C. Gen. Stat. Ch. 14, Art. 37). North Carolina sits in the Fourth Circuit, which has not ruled on the federal-preemption question; neither the Sixth Circuit's Sept. 25, 2026 ruling against Kalshi nor the Third Circuit's pro-Kalshi ruling (New Jersey, Apr. 6, 2026) binds North Carolina directly.[3],[13]
Skill games	Contested			"Fish Hunter"-style arcade machines and other claimed games-of-skill have operated since roughly 2017 in a disputed legal zone; some authorities treat them as illegal games of chance under the same sweepstakes-ban statute used against video poker/sweepstakes parlors, while operators market them as skill-based. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-306.4 [1]
Card rooms	Not authorized			[1]
Lottery couriers	Not authorized			No North Carolina courier-licensing statute was found; secondary sources report major couriers (Jackpocket, Jackpot.com, Lotto.com) as generally unavailable in NC because the state already operates its own official online-play platform. Treated as not_authorized rather than unknown given the Lottery's own online sales channel and absence of any courier-licensing framework, but no explicit statutory ban was located.[17],[18]
Pick'em fantasy	Prohibited			The NC Lottery Commission's sports-wagering rules package (proposed effective Jan. 8, 2024) excludes from the DFS definition, and effectively bars, pick'em-style single-entry/player-vs-house fantasy contests that mimic proposition wagering, requiring such products to instead be licensed as sports wagering.[12]
Pari-mutuel	Legal, not launched			The 2023 sports-wagering law created a separate pari-mutuel wagering licensing system administered alongside sports wagering (N.C. Lottery Commission's "Rules Manual for Sports Wagering and Pari-Mutuel Wagering" covers both), but no live horse or greyhound racing currently operates in North Carolina; prior NC Supreme Court rulings (State v. Felton, 239 N.C. 575 (1954); State v. Carolina Racing Ass'n, 241 N.C. 80 (1954)) struck down 1939/1949 track-authorization laws as unconstitutional delegations/monopolies. N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 18C, Article 9 (pari-mutuel wagering licensing) [1],[4]
Advance deposit wagering	Legal, not launched			Covered by the same Chapter 18C pari-mutuel licensing framework as retail pari-mutuel; no active advance deposit wagering provider confirmed operating as of Oct. 2026.[4]
Charitable gaming	Live		Monopoly State	Qualifying nonprofits may hold up to 2 bingo sessions/week (single-game prize capped at $500) and up to 2 raffles/year (cash prizes capped at $10,000, non-cash at $50,000). "Beach bingo" with prizes of $10 or less may be run commercially with few restrictions. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-309.9 (bingo); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-309.15 (raffles) [1]
Esports betting	Live		Competitive	S.L. 2023-42 (H.B. 347) defines "sports governing body" to include, for electronic sports, the video game publisher of the title used in the competition (regardless of the publisher's location), and directs the Lottery Commission to license 10-12 interactive sports wagering operators to take wagers on events including "electronic sports," among other categories, plus any other event the Commission approves. In September 2024 the Commission approved Electronic Sports Guidance describing its Gaming Compliance and Sports Wagering Division's approach to regulating esports wagering and a petition process for adding specific esports events/titles to the state's approved wagering catalog (wagers on non-catalog events are prohibited).[4],[19],[20]
Social casino	Not authorized			Free-to-play, no-cash-prize social casino apps are not addressed as gambling under North Carolina law since there is no prize-for-consideration element.[3]

Sports betting in North Carolina: status, tax rate, sportsbooks and bills →

Tax rates

Vertical	Channel	Rate	Base	Promos deductible	Since	Statute
Daily fantasy	online	No fantasy-sports-specific tax. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-902(e) exempts 'fantasy or simulated games or contests' meeting the statutory definition from both the licensing and the tax provisions of the sports-wagering Article (Art. 9); operators pay no state wagering/gaming tax on DFS contest revenue.	OTHER	No	Jul 2019	N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-902(e)[10]
Sports (online)	total	18%	GGR		Jan 8, 2024	N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-113.126(a) Rate applies uniformly to interactive (online) and retail sports wagering operators' gross wagering revenue; "gross wagering revenue" (§ 18C-901(7)) is wagers less winnings paid, before expense/fee/tax deductions, i.e. no separate promo deduction identified. [28]
Sports (retail)	retail	18%	GGR		Jan 8, 2024	N.C. Gen. Stat. § 105-113.126(a) Same combined online/retail 18% rate as sports_online above; the statute taxes "gross wagering revenue" uniformly regardless of channel, covering both tribal retail sportsbooks (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Catawba Nation) and the 8 designated professional-sports-venue retail locations authorized effective Jan. 2024. [28]

Rules and requirements

Casinos

Number of tribal gaming facilities: 3
Harrah's Cherokee, Harrah's Cherokee Valley River, Catawba Two Kings Casino.
[1]
Number of federally recognized tribes with Class III compacts: 1
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians holds the conventional IGRA Tribal-State Gaming Compact; the Catawba Indian Nation's NC facility rests on separate federal land-into-trust/enabling legislation rather than a standard compact.
[1]

License fees

Sports wagering license fee(s) and term: Interactive sports wagering operator: $1,000,000 initial/renewal (§ 18C-904(b), § 18C-908(b)(1)); service provider: $50,000 (§ 18C-906(b), § 18C-908(b)(2)); supplier: $30,000 (§ 18C-907(d), § 18C-908(b)(3)).[3]

Minimum age

Minimum age to purchase lottery: 18[1]
Minimum age for pari-mutuel wagering: 21
A person under 21 who engages in pari-mutuel wagering commits a Class 2 misdemeanor.
[22]
Minimum age to place a sports wager: 21[3]
Typical minimum age at tribal casinos (per compact): 21[23]?

Sports betting rules

Wagering on college sports allowed at all: Yes[3]
Wagering on in-state college teams allowed: Yes
No statutory restriction on wagering involving in-state college teams, unlike some other states.
[24]
Individual college player prop bets allowed: Yes
North Carolina is among the states that still allow unrestricted college player prop bets; 2024 and 2025 bills to ban them did not pass.
[24]
Credit cards may be used to fund accounts: Yes
"Cash equivalent" under the statutory definition of permitted wagering funds includes credit cards and debit cards.
[25]
Esports wagering allowed: Yes[19],[20]
New online accounts must be created in person: No
Bettors sign up for accounts through an operator's app or website; identity is verified with name, address, and Social Security number or other ID.
[26]
Micro-betting / in-play single-event outcomes allowed: Yes
In-game/in-play and proposition wagers are included in the statutory definition of sports wagering (§ 18C-901(19)).
[3]
Online sports wagering available statewide (not tethered to premises): Yes[3]
Operators must use official league data for some bets: No
§ 18C-914(c) does not require official league data for certain tier-one results or non-U.S. organization tier-two wagers.
[3]
Summary of prop-bet restrictions (e.g. no in-game player props): Wagers on injuries, penalties/disciplinary outcomes, and replay-review results are barred (§ 18C-902(d)(2)).[3]

Tax revenue

Where gaming tax revenue goes (education fund: After a $2M/yr problem-gambling-treatment allocation, $1M/yr to NC Amateur Sports youth-sports grants, $300,000/yr each to 13 named university athletic departments, and $1M/yr to the Youth Outdoor Engagement Commission, the remainder splits 20% among the 13 universities, 30% to the Major Events, Games & Attractions Fund, and 50% to the General Fund (G.S. § 105-113.128).[27]
Uses that sports-wagering tax revenue is directed to by law, largest share first where the law sets shares: general_fund, tourism, education, problem_gambling, other, environment
Ranked by the statute's percentage shares of the remainder (50% General Fund, 30% Major Events/Games/Attractions Fund, 20% university athletics) followed by the smaller fixed-dollar allocations (problem-gambling treatment, youth-sports grants, outdoor-engagement grants).
[27]

Revenue

Tax revenueMonthly · Sports (online)

Monthly3-month average

$10.0M$20.0M20252026Apr 2024 $18.9M$11.7M

Calendar-year totals from available reports; incomplete years are partial totals.

Vertical	Measure	2026	2025	2024
Sports (online)	GGR	$509M	$735M	$584M
Sports (online)	Handle	$4.9B	$7.3B	$5.4B
Sports (online)	Tax paid	$96.8M	$132M	$105M

Sports (online)Monthly GGR

Monthly3-month average

$50.0M$100M$150M20252026Apr 2024 $105M$55.4M

What these figures mean

Sports (online): GGR is the report's "Gross Wagering Revenue" line. Tax paid is the report's "Estimated Tax Proceeds" line (18%). The estimated tax does not always equal 18% of the printed GGR line, so the tax base is not stated to be that figure.

Revenue report sources (30)

Not published by the state

Daily fantasy: N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-902(e) exempts skill-based fantasy contests from the Sports Wagering Act entirely, so DFS operators are neither licensed nor taxed and the state publishes no fantasy-sports revenue report. Checked Oct 11, 2026 · source
Sports (retail): NC licenses in-person sports wagering at pro venues only under the single statewide interactive license, so retail activity is folded into the sports_online series; the Cherokee and Catawba tribes run separate retail sportsbooks under their own compacts and report nothing to the state. Checked Oct 11, 2026 · source

Lottery

Status: Live · Monopoly State
Notes
The State Lottery Act (S.L. 2005-344, H.B. 1023) passed the Senate 25-24 on a tie-breaking vote by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue on Aug. 30, 2005, and Gov. Mike Easley signed it the next day, Aug. 31, 2005, creating the N.C. State Lottery Commission and new Chapter 18C. The North Carolina Education Lottery sold its first instant (scratch-off) tickets Mar. 30, 2006, with the first online draw game (Powerball) following May 30, 2006 (NCEL joined Powerball May 28, 2006 per a secondary source; dates differ by two days). Net lottery revenues transfer at least quarterly to the Education Lottery Fund (G.S. § 18C-164); after funding a reserve and the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, the General Assembly appropriates the remainder each year for education-related purposes.
[5],[6],[7]
Authorized: Aug 31, 2005
N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 18C (State Lottery Act, S.L. 2005-344, H.B. 1023)
First tickets sold: Mar 30, 2006
Run by: North Carolina State Lottery Commission
Minimum age: 18[1]
Multistate games: Powerball, Mega Millions, Millionaire for Life[21]
Where the money goes: Net revenues of the State Lottery Fund transfer at least four times a year to the Education Lottery Fund (G.S. § 18C-164(a)); after an appropriation matching prior-year education spending and a reserve (min. 5% of the prior year's credited net revenue), any remainder goes to the Needs-Based Public School Capital Fund, and the General Assembly appropriates the Education Lottery Fund's net revenue each year for education-related purposes.[7]
Online sales (iLottery): Live · since Nov 2023
Notes
The N.C. Lottery Commission voted the evening of Aug. 15, 2023 to begin selling "Digital Instant Games" (eInstants) online by Nov. 15, 2023; officials said a 2023 budget-law provision banning "casino-style" lottery games did not bar these online instant games. Games launched in mid-November 2023 (secondary sources differ between Nov. 14 and Nov. 15) through vendor NeoPollard Interactive. Players create an online account and provide the last four digits of their SSN to verify identity and age 18+.
[8],[9],[1]
Courier services: Not authorized
Notes
No North Carolina courier-licensing statute was found; secondary sources report major couriers (Jackpocket, Jackpot.com, Lotto.com) as generally unavailable in NC because the state already operates its own official online-play platform. Treated as not_authorized rather than unknown given the Lottery's own online sales channel and absence of any courier-licensing framework, but no explicit statutory ban was located.
[17],[18]

Lottery sales and money kept by the stateState fiscal years

SalesKept by the stateOnline gambling legalized

$2.0B$4.0B$6.0BFY2012FY2015FY2018FY2021FY20241$5.4B$1.2B

1Jun 14, 2023: online sports betting legalized · launched Mar 11, 2024

Yearly figures

Fiscal year	Sales	Prizes	Administration	Kept by the state	Prize share
FY2024	$5.4B	$3.8B	$385M	$1.2B	71%
FY2023	$4.3B	$2.9B	$384M	$1.1B	66%
FY2022	$3.9B	$2.5B	$339M	$1.0B	65%
FY2021	$3.5B	$2.5B	$75.1M	$935M	71%
FY2020	$2.8B	$2.0B	$68.1M	$725M	71%
FY2019	$2.6B	$1.8B	$62.6M	$707M	71%
FY2018	$2.4B	$1.6B	$62.9M	$669M	69%
FY2017	$2.2B	$1.5B	$54.3M	$621M	70%
FY2016	$2.2B	$1.5B	$95.3M	$631M	67%
FY2015	$1.8B	$1.2B	$81.4M	$522M	67%
FY2014	$1.7B	$1.1B	$76.4M	$499M	66%
FY2013	$1.6B	$1.0B	$72.2M	$474M	65%
FY2012	$1.5B	$961M	$68.1M	$455M	65%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Finances

Lottery timeline

Nov 2023 · Launched · iLottery
North Carolina Education Lottery launches online Digital Instant Games with vendor NeoPollard Interactive[9]
Aug 15, 2023 · Legalized · iLottery
N.C. Lottery Commission votes to begin selling Digital Instant Games (eInstants) online by Nov. 15[8]
Mar 30, 2006 · Launched · Lottery
North Carolina Education Lottery sells its first instant (scratch-off) tickets[6]
Aug 31, 2005 · Legalized · Lottery
North Carolina General Assembly approves the State Lottery Act (S.L. 2005-344, H.B. 1023) after a Senate tie broken by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, creating the N.C. Education Lottery and Chapter 18C[5]

Licensed operators

Operator	Brand	Vertical	License	Status	Launched	Partner / venue
Catawba Indian Nation	Catawba Two Kings Casino	Tribal casinos		active		Kings Mountain, NC[29]
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	Harrah's Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel	Tribal casinos		active		Murphy, NC[29]
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort	Tribal casinos		active		Cherokee, NC[29]
bet365	bet365	Sports (online)	Interactive Sports Wagering Operator #NCO-0003	active	Mar 11, 2024	[30],[31]
BetMGM	BetMGM	Sports (online)	Interactive Sports Wagering Operator #NCO-0007	active	Mar 11, 2024	[30],[31]
Caesars Entertainment	Caesars Sportsbook	Sports (online)	Interactive Sports Wagering Operator #NCO-0008	active	Mar 11, 2024	eastern-band-of-cherokee-indians[30],[31]
DraftKings	DraftKings Sportsbook	Sports (online)	Interactive Sports Wagering Operator #NCO-0002	active	Mar 11, 2024	[30],[31]
Fanatics Betting and Gaming	Fanatics Sportsbook	Sports (online)	Interactive Sports Wagering Operator #NCO-0004	active	Mar 11, 2024	[30],[31]
FanDuel	FanDuel Sportsbook	Sports (online)	Interactive Sports Wagering Operator #NCO-0005	active	Mar 11, 2024	[30],[31]
PENN Entertainment	theScore Bet	Sports (online)	Interactive Sports Wagering Operator #NCO-0001	active	Mar 11, 2024	[30],[31]

Casinos

3 properties open.

Property	Type	City	Operator	Opened	Sportsbook	Hotel
Catawba Two Kings Casino Opened as a temporary facility in July 2021; a permanent expansion has been planned. [34]	Tribal casino	Kings Mountain	Catawba Indian Nation	2021
Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort An interim casino opened in January 1995; the permanent casino opened in November 1997. Branded and managed under a license agreement with Caesars/Harrah's. [34]	Tribal casino	Cherokee	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	1997	Yes	Yes
Harrah's Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel[34]	Tribal casino	Murphy	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	2015		Yes

Enforcement

Penalties against licensed companies

Date	Against	Action	Amount	What happened
Sep 23, 2026	bet365 (Hillside (North Carolina), LLC)	Fine Sports (online)	$75,000	The Commission fined bet365 $75,000 for sending promotional push notifications to patrons on North Carolina's sports-wagering self-exclusion list; bet365 self-reported the violation. Reported in the press; no regulator document found.[32]
Sep 23, 2026	Underdog Sports Wagering	Fine Sports (online)	$175,000	The Commission fined Underdog $175,000 after it self-reported that 38 online sports-wagering accounts were created for customers under 21, eight of which placed bets before the error was caught; the violations occurred before Underdog exited the regulated NC sports-wagering market in December 2025. Reported in the press; no regulator document found.[32]

Tribal gaming

Compact notices in the Federal Register: 6 · first notice Jul 9, 1996, latest Dec 15, 2025

Tribal gaming revenue in the NIGC Washington, D.C. Region

NIGC Washington, D.C. RegionFederal fiscal years

$5.0B$10.0B$15.0BFY2019FY2021FY2023FY2025$11.2B

The National Indian Gaming Commission reports revenue only by region. This region also includes Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York.[33]

Compact notices

Published	Tribe	Notice	Federal Register
Dec 15, 2025	Catawba Nation	Amendment took effect without action	90 FR 58049
Mar 25, 2021	Catawba Indian Nation	Compact approved	86 FR 15958
Mar 2, 2021	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	Compact approved	86 FR 12204
Aug 13, 2012	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	Compact approved	77 FR 48167
Jan 17, 2001	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	Amendment approved	66 FR 4038
Jul 9, 1996	Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians	Amendment approved	61 FR 36078

The Interior Department publishes a notice when a compact or amendment is approved or takes effect. Older compacts published before 1994 are not included.

Economy

Adults 21 and over: 8.2M (2024; 11.1M residents)
Gambling revenue per adult: $89 in 2025 · 27th of 31 states with a full year of reports
$735M kept by operators from sports (online), divided by adults 21 and over. Tribal casinos and the lottery are not included.
Gambling taxes collected: $122M in FY2025 · 0.3% of all state taxes
Gambling jobs: 4,748 in 2025 · $53,828 average annual pay

Gambling taxes collectedState fiscal years

Gambling taxesLottery proceeds

$500M$1.0B$1.5BFY2013FY2016FY2019FY2022FY2025$122M$1.2B

Census Bureau tax collections on amusements and pari-mutuel wagering. Most states book casino, sports betting and video gaming taxes here; amusement taxes can also include admissions taxes unrelated to gambling. Lottery proceeds are what the lottery transfers to the state after prizes and costs.

Gambling jobsAnnual average

2,0004,0006,0002015201720192021202320254,748

Casinos, casino hotels, card rooms, bingo halls, off-track betting and slot-route operators, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Racetracks are not included. Jobs at tribal casinos are counted as government jobs.

Gambling jobs by industry, 2025

Industry	Ownership	Employers	Jobs	Average pay
Gambling industries	tribal and other government-owned	3	3,972	$50,175
Gambling industries	privately owned	61	776	$72,535

Taxes by fiscal year

Fiscal year	Amusement taxes	Pari-mutuel taxes	Share of state taxes	Lottery proceeds
FY2025	$184K	$122M	0.30%	—
FY2024	$184K	$41.8M	0.11%	$1.2B
FY2023	$184K	$0	0.00%	$1.1B
FY2022	$101K	—	0.00%	$1.0B
FY2021	$133K	—	0.00%	$935M
FY2020	$282K	—	0.00%	$725M
FY2019	$206K	—	0.00%	$707M
FY2018	$298K	—	0.00%	$669M
FY2017	$204K	—	0.00%	$621M
FY2016	$184K	—	0.00%	$631M

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 Population Estimates: Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for the United States, States (NST-EST2025-ALLDATA); U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of State Government Tax Collections (STC): Historical Dataset; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, 2025 annual averages, NAICS 7132 (Gambling industries)

Timeline

Mar 11, 2024 · Launched · Sports (online)
Online sportsbooks go live statewide (FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365, Fanatics, theScore Bet and others)[1]
Jan 8, 2024 · Tax Change · Sports (online)
18% gross-wagering-revenue tax and revenue-distribution formula take effect (G.S. § 105-113.126, § 105-113.128)[28],[27]
Nov 16, 2023 · Regulation Adopted · Sports (online)
N.C. State Lottery Commission approves initial sports-wagering catalog of permissible bet types[4]
Nov 2023 · Launched · iLottery
North Carolina Education Lottery launches online Digital Instant Games with vendor NeoPollard Interactive[9]
Aug 15, 2023 · Legalized · iLottery
N.C. Lottery Commission votes to begin selling Digital Instant Games (eInstants) online by Nov. 15[8]
Jun 14, 2023 · Legalized · Sports (online)
Governor signs law legalizing statewide online sports wagering and expanding retail venues (N.C. Gen. Stat. Chapter 18C, Article 9), effective Jan. 8, 2024[1]
2023 · Restricted · Sports (online)
Amendment requires online operators to hold a written designation agreement with an NC sports team/facility/governing body, narrowing the field to about 11 potential operators[1]
2022 · Launched · Sports (retail)
Catawba Indian Nation opens retail sportsbook[1]
Jul 2021 · Launched · Tribal casinos
Catawba Indian Nation opens temporary Catawba Two Kings Casino in Kings Mountain[1]
Mar 2021 · Launched · Sports (retail)
Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians opens North Carolina's first retail sportsbook[1]
Jul 2019 · Legalized · Sports (retail)
Law authorizes amending tribal compacts to add retail sportsbooks at tribal casinos[1]
Sep 2015 · Launched · Tribal casinos
Harrah's Cherokee Valley River casino opens in Murphy, NC[1]
Jan 2013 · Prohibited · Sweepstakes casinos
Electronic sweepstakes machine ban takes effect after litigation concludes[1]
Dec 2012 · Court Ruling · Sweepstakes casinos
N.C. Supreme Court upholds the 2010 electronic sweepstakes ban (G.S. § 14-306.4)[15]
Aug 2012 · Expanded · Tribal casinos
Table games begin at Harrah's Cherokee under compact amendment (Gov. Beverly Perdue)[1]
Jul 1, 2006 · Prohibited · VGTs / VLTs
Video poker machines fully banned statewide (2006 Session Law ch. 6), except under tribal-state compact[1]
Mar 30, 2006 · Launched · Lottery
North Carolina Education Lottery sells its first instant (scratch-off) tickets[6]
Aug 31, 2005 · Legalized · Lottery
North Carolina General Assembly approves the State Lottery Act (S.L. 2005-344, H.B. 1023) after a Senate tie broken by Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue, creating the N.C. Education Lottery and Chapter 18C[5]
Nov 1997 · Launched · Tribal casinos
Harrah's Cherokee casino opens under 1994 EBCI-State compact[1]

Regulators

North Carolina State Lottery Commission — Sports (online), Sports (retail), Lottery, iLottery, Pari-mutuel, Advance deposit wagering
Revenue reports · License list
North Carolina Department of Public Safety (Alcohol Law Enforcement / charitable gaming licensing) — Charitable gaming
North Carolina Department of Justice (Attorney General) — Sweepstakes casinos, Skill games

Sources

Gambling in North Carolina · Wikipedia · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary source only; used for historical narrative, cross-checked against primary ncleg.gov statute text where cited separately.
Approved Licensees · North Carolina State Lottery Commission · regulator page · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
“Companies with gaming licenses”
N.C. General Statutes, Chapter 18C, Article 9 — Sports Wagering · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
“Any person under the age of 21”
North Carolina State Lottery Commission — Gaming · North Carolina State Lottery Commission · regulator page · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
“adopts and enforces gaming regulations to ensure integrity and public confidence in gaming”
North Carolina Education Lottery · Wikipedia · secondary · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
secondary source only
“The controversial lottery proposal was approved on August 31, 2005, after then-Lieutenant Governor Bev Perdue cast a tie-breaking vote in the North Carolina Senate”
WRAL archive article on North Carolina lottery sales start · WRAL · press · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
“Lottery sales began on March 30, 2006.”
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-164 — Transfer of net revenues; Education Lottery Fund · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
“shall be transferred at least four times a year to the Education Lottery Fund”
Another gambling expansion in NC as lottery approves digital instant games · WRAL · press · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
Posted 8/15/2023; article says the commission "voted Tuesday evening," i.e. the vote was Aug. 15, 2023.
“The North Carolina Lottery Commission voted Tuesday to begin selling digital instant games online by Nov. 15.”
NC launches instant digital lottery · AOL / Associated Press · press · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary source only; page returned 404 on re-fetch Oct. 11, 2026 (cited via earlier search-confirmed text only).
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-902 — Powers of the Commission with respect to sports wagering; fantasy-contest exclusion · North Carolina General Assembly (ncleg.gov) · statute · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
Subsection (e) exempts fantasy/simulated contests from the sports-wagering Article where outcomes reflect players' relative knowledge/skill and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistics of individual performance.
“Nothing in this Article shall apply to fantasy or simulated games or contests in which one or more fantasy contest players”
Proposed NC regs limit scope of fantasy sports to remove props · SBC Americas · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary source only; page blocked direct access; used only to corroborate that the Lottery Commission's proposed rules track the statutory fantasy-contest definition, not for any claim requiring a verbatim excerpt.
First Online NC Sports Betting Rules Include DFS Pick'Em Block · Legal Sports Report · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary source only; confirmed via search-result text, not full page fetch (page blocked direct access).
N.C. General Statutes, Chapter 14, Article 37 — Lotteries, Gaming-Houses, and Gaming · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
“Sports wagering lawfully conducted in compliance with Article 9 of Chapter 18C of the General Statutes”
North Carolina 2025-2026 Regular Session — House Bill 999 · Legiplex (legislative tracker) · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary source only; corroborated by the official bill PDF at library.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2025/Bills/House/PDF/H999v1.pdf.
N.C. General Statutes § 14-306.4 — Electronic machines and devices for sweepstakes · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
“it shall be unlawful for any person to operate, or place into operation, an electronic machine or device”
North Carolina, Maine Reject Historical Horseracing Machines · Vixio · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary source only
Jackpocket state availability list · Bonus.com · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary source only; North Carolina not listed among approved states as of this page.
North Carolina Lottery Promo Code · Legal Sports Report · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
secondary/commercial source only; used only for the claim that major lottery couriers are generally unavailable in NC.
Bill Summary for H 347 (2023-2024) · UNC School of Government, NC General Assembly Legislative Reporting Service · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
Secondary source only; summarizes S.L. 2023-42's definition of "sports governing body" (electronic sports governing body = the video game publisher) and the 10-12 operator licensing structure covering electronic sports among wagering categories.
North Carolina Regulators Approve Retail Sports Betting Compliance Proposal · Covers.com · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
Secondary source only; reports the Lottery Commission's September 2024 approval of Electronic Sports Guidance and a petition process for adding esports events/titles to the approved wagering catalog.
North Carolina Education Lottery — Draw Games · North Carolina Education Lottery · regulator page · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
Official current draw-games list (Powerball, Mega Millions, Cash 5, Powerball Xs & Os, Millionaire for Life, Pick 4, Pick 3, Cash Pop, Keno); page does not itself label games as multistate.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-1020 — Unlawful acts · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
“Any person under the age of 21 who engages in pari-mutuel wagering as defined under this Article... shall be guilty of a Class 2 misdemeanor.”
Tribe, State reach compact agreement · The Cherokee One Feather (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' tribal newspaper) · press · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
Describes a 2000 compact amendment (effective 2001) raising Harrah's Cherokee's gambling age from 18 to 21; corroborated by contemporaneous press (Las Vegas Sun, Dec. 2000) not independently re-fetched this session.
“raised the gambling age to 21 and established the Cherokee Preservation Foundation”
Betting on Reform: North Carolina Looks to Ban College Prop Bets · Wake Forest Law Review · secondary · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
Sept. 2025 legal-academic article; 2025 bill HB 828 to ban college player props had not passed as of that writing.
“Ten states, including North Carolina, still allow unrestricted college prop betting.”
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 18C-901 — Definitions · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
“Cash equivalent. - An asset convertible to cash for use in connection with authorized sports wagering that includes all of the following: ... Credit card and debit card.”
North Carolina Opens Sports Betting Pre-Registration · Covers.com · press · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
“You'll need your full name, address, and social security number or another way to prove your identity.”
N.C. General Statutes § 105-113.128 — Distribution of sports wagering tax proceeds · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
N.C. General Statutes § 105-113.126 — Tax on sports wagering · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
“A tax at the rate of eighteen percent (18%) is imposed on each interactive sports wagering operator.”
Gambling in North Carolina · Wikipedia · secondary · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
Carried over from data/jurisdictions/NC.yaml's existing summary: 'Retail sports wagering began earlier at the state's tribal casinos (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' Harrah's Cherokee properties in 2021; Catawba Nation's Two Kings Casino in 2022).' Secondary source only; not independently refetched in this pass.
Approved Licensees · North Carolina State Lottery Commission · regulator page · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
“FanDuel Sportsbook / Betfair Interactive US, LLC / NCO-0005; BetMGM / BETMGM, LLC / NCO-0007; DraftKings / Crown NC Gaming, LLC / NCO-0002; Fanatics Sportsbook / FBG Enterprises Opco, LLC / NCO-0004; bet365 / Hillside (North Carolina), LLC / NCO-0003; theScore Bet / Penn Sports Interactive, LLC / NCO-0001”
N.C. General Statutes, Chapter 18C, Article 9 -- Sports Wagering · North Carolina General Assembly · statute · retrieved Oct 10, 2026
Statewide interactive sports-wagering launch date (March 11, 2024) carried over from data/jurisdictions/NC.yaml's existing sports_online entry; not a direct quote from the statute text itself, which sets the legal framework rather than the specific launch date.
North Carolina Fines Bet365 for Sports Betting Legal Violation · The Lines · secondary · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
“Underdog allowed 38 underage people to create accounts between March 2024 and December 2025, and eight of them placed wagers”
NIGC FY 2025 Gross Gaming Revenue Report · National Indian Gaming Commission · regulator report · retrieved Oct 11, 2026
“FY 2025’s GGR of $46.2 billion marks the highest ever GGR for the Indian gaming industry.”
List of casinos in North Carolina · Wikipedia · secondary · retrieved Oct 11, 2026