North Carolina online sports betting launch targeted for March

The Tar Heel state has officially received an online sports betting launch date.

The North Carolina Lottery Commission unanimously approved an online sports betting start date of Monday, March 11, at noon. The commission met Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) stated goal of having sports betting live in North Carolina by the NCAA March Madness Tournament.

The tournament begins on Tuesday, March 19.

North Carolina sports betting start date confirmed

The North Carolina Lottery Commission announced the start date after weeks of speculation on when the state would be able to get sports betting up and running. North Carolina’s sports betting bill set a hard deadline of June 15 to have sports betting live in the state.

Lottery Commission Chairman Ripley Rand congratulated the members of the commission on their hard work after approving the date. This morning’s meeting, which lasted all of 10 minutes, is in no way reflective of the amount of effort the staff and commission put into the sports betting programs, he said.

“We’ve met frequently over the last several months to be at this point where we’ll be ready to be live far in advance of the June deadline,” Rand said.

While a North Carolina online sports betting start date has been set, no operators have yet received a license. According to Sterl Carpenter, Deputy Executive Director Gaming Compliance and Sports Betting for the Lottery Commission, operators need to acquire their certificates of compliance before being able to register players or offer sports betting.

Operators will have to submit their internal control requirements, a major step in obtaining their certificates, by Friday, Jan. 26.

The commission approved a date of Friday, March 1, for operators to begin registering users and for users to begin funding their accounts. At that time, it is expected that users will be able to begin searching for North Carolina sports betting promos from the top operators in the state.