Legal Sports Betting For North Carolina Residents
Most do not know that legally betting on sports in North Carolina has always been a reality through online sports betting sites. Many sportsbooks are available, and they will allow you to wager on almost any sport you wish. With several major professional teams in the state, like the NFL’s Carolina Panthers, the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, and the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, there is a huge betting base. It is estimated that over 1 million NC residents turn an annual sports betting handle of more than $6 billion. Throw in the many elite NCAA clubs that call the state home, and it’s easy to see that you have a major gambling market on your hands.
However, these bettors are not able to wager at state-sanctioned online sportsbooks, so the huge majority of their wagers go overseas to trusted sportsbooks that allow them to legally place real-money bets and receive prompt payouts. North Carolina has legalized land-based sportsbooks at the state’s two Cherokee casinos, but those may not always be accessible to everyone in the state. We’ll go into detail into what those brick-and-mortar locations can offer as well as other options for legal sports betting for NC residents
If you live in North Carolina and enjoy casino gambling or sports betting, your options are fairly limited. Thankfully, online gambling in North Carolina is a safe alternative to a road trip up the coast to Atlantic City or a plane trip to Las Vegas (or some other state that has legalized sports betting in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling eliminating the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, or PASPA). North Carolina citizens are free to place wagers at online sportsbooks or casinos without fear of prosecution from the state or federal government so long as those sites operate overseas.
Sports Betting Laws in North Carolina
Because there are no laws addressing Internet sports betting in North Carolina’s penal code, such bets are safe provided they are made through legal and regulated online offshore sports or casino betting sites. If you live in North Carolina, you should feel totally safe placing online sports wagers or casino bets. For more information about the specifics of NC gambling laws, check out § 14-292 of the North Carolina General Statutes. As far as land-based sports gambling in NC, there are only two locations that are allowed to open sportsbooks and those two locations are both owned by the Cherokee Tribe. This is because NC SB 154, the North Carolina sports betting law that was signed into law, only added the activity to the list of Class III games that the tribe could offer. They are both located on the West side of the state and they are not allowed to offer mobile sports wagering apps, which makes it difficult for NC residents living on the coast to access them.
In the First in Flight State, no citizen has ever been charged with a crime related to online gambling. There is not one single law in the North Carolina penal code that makes online casino play a crime. Since the Department of Justice changed the way they apply the 1961 Federal Wire Act, the US government will not prosecute a person in North Carolina for any online gambling offense either. Online sports bets are perfectly safe in North Carolina, as long as you aren’t the operator of an unauthorized sports betting website on American soil.
Bovada is one sportsbook that you will not want to ignore. They offer their players a solid set of betting options, including lines on major professional leagues and associations, as well as a number of different collegiate and amateur sports. Bovada provides their players with a 50% match upon starting up worth up to $250 no promo code necessary! which offers one of the best bonuses in all of sports betting. But for a limited time, it gets better. That 50% bonus could get you a $1,000 bonus until October 1. Just use the promo code BVNFL1000 for NFL bets and BVNCAAF1000 for college football. Bovada has other regular promotions as well, including competitions for most of the major sporting events, such as college and professional league championships and the like. Bovada uses several easy deposit methods including popular prepaid cards, many credit/debit card varieties, and Bitcoin. Every transaction is simple, their sportsbook is totally secure, and these features have made them one of our top choices.
Bonuses are just one of the things that players check out when they get on their SportsBetting account. There is so much more on this account that many players will check out and keep them coming back placing more bets. The North Carolina players that have accounts will be rewarded with bonuses like 35% Crypto Reload Bonus. There are plenty of banking methods here at Sportsbetting but the main things that these banking methods have is the fast transactions that will make sure that players can bet as soon as possible!
BetOnline has been around for a long time, and their service still ranks among the best in the industry. BetOnline provides players with a solid set of betting options, including the ability to wager on dozens of different sports and events. Through BetOnline, you can wager on everything from professional sports to collegiate sports. BetOnline provides their users with one of the most generous of welcome bonuses, including a 50% match to $1000 (promo: “BOL1000”). Their deposit methods include Bitcoin transfers, Visa, Mastercard, AmEx, and prepaid cards, among many others. This legal sports betting site for NC residents offers their users one of the most generous sets of odds, making this one of the more viable – and valuable – sportsbooks online. By sticking with them, you are easily able to build a substantial bankroll, and we recommend it for this reason alone.
Without question, players should be able to do anything they want on Mybookie. There are so many features like live betting and mobile betting on this online sportsbook, players always find ways to make money. This means that they will see a lot of different bets and also see plenty of betting odds as well that they can choose from. The thing that players also notice with Mybookie is the banking methods that are easy to use and makes sure that players have their money on their account on time. Take a glance at Mybookie!
Bonuses are just one of the things that players check out when they get on their SportsBetting account. There is so much more on this account that many players will check out and keep them coming back placing more bets. The North Carolina players that have accounts will be rewarded with bonuses like 35% Crypto Reload Bonus. There are plenty of banking methods here at Sportsbetting but the main things that these banking methods have is the fast transactions that will make sure that players can bet as soon as possible!
The Federal Wire Act – Passed in 1961 to prohibit interstate wire communications in regards to sports betting, the Wire Act’s definition does not include internet gambling at overseas books, so North Carolina residents don’t have to worry about this law. The Wire Act focuses strictly on penalizing sports wagering operators (i.e. bookmakers) that do business on US soil. Since legal North Carolina sportsbooks are all located overseas in other countries, the US government has no jurisdiction over their business operations, and NC residents are free to do business with them.
Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) – PASPA was passed in 1992 and was a federal ban on sports gambling in the United States. The caveat with this law was that it really only prohibited gambling businesses from operating inside of the United States (outside of Nevada), and it did not restrict offshore sites from providing gambling business to players in the United States. With PASPA having been overturned by the US Supreme Court in May 2018, all American states are now free to establish and regulate their own sports betting industries. While many neighboring states have already taken the initiative to establish online sports betting apps within their borders, NC is not quite there yet. Instead, lawmakers have only allowed tribal casinos to offer the activity on their property, but NC may eventually offer state-wide sports betting apps of their own.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) – The UIGEA is probably the biggest remaining hindrance to legal sports gambling in North Carolina. This federal law bans US-based financial institutions from knowingly accepting betting transactions. Of course, the top sites (like the sites we have reviewed on this page) all have plenty of variety as far as safe and reliable deposit and withdrawal/payout methods. Bitcoin is the primary workaround for the UIGEA, as cryptocurrencies are becoming increasingly popular for sports betting for a number of other reasons, as well. As with all federal gambling laws, the UIGEA does not criminalize individual bettors. If your card is ever declined at an offshore sportsbook, this is due to the UIGEA. However, you are not in trouble and can either use an alternate card or choose a different funding method entirely.
The legal gambling age in North Carolina is 21 years old. For those of you that choose to sign up for one of the offshore online gambling sites that we have recommended, you should know that they only require their players to be 18. That being said, to avoid any potential trouble you should wait until you are 21 and stick to following the state's laws.
When using legal North Carolina sports betting sites, you will see that most of the top options available offer either a mobile sports betting app or a mobile version of their site. Mobile sports betting allows players to place bets using their smartphone or tablet device and it just adds yet another level of convenience to legal sports betting in North Carolina. Most sites are compatible with both iOS and Android software and offer several different benefits for simply using the mobile option.
How Should a North Carolina Citizen Select an Online Sportsbook?
Look for a sportsbook that accepts American bets, offers wagers on teams and sports that you love, and one that has a promotional program you’re happy with. Most importantly, of course, you’ll need to make sure that the site you choose has a long-standing reputation of honesty, integrity, and customer care. All of the sites mentioned here fit that bill!
Will the State of North Carolina Ever Have Traditional Sports Betting Venues?
It is likely that brick and mortar sportsbooks will open in North Carolina eventually, thanks to the overturning of PASPA and the passing of SB 154. However, a timeline for when these tribal casinos will open their sportsbook operations is still a bit unclear. Given the fact they were the ones to push for a bill in the first place, it is likely that they will offer a traditional sports betting venue in North Carolina in the near future.
What Is Live Betting In North Carolina?
Live betting is one of the more unique ways to bet at legal NC betting sites. This kind of gambling allows you to place wagers on sporting events after they have already begun, so you can see the flow of the game and make adjustments to your picks accordingly. Live betting requires a solid Internet connection, and all the top sites allow you to use their in-game wagering features whether you’re on a computer, iPhone, Android device, or any other piece of modern kit with an up-to-date web browser. Tribal casino sportsbooks will surely want to add this feature if they hope to compete with their online counterparts.
North Carolina is home to perhaps two of the most prestigious college basketball programs in the history of college basketball: the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils. These two teams have combined for multiple national championships and have produced countless star NBA players along the way. Some notable names from NC include His Airness himself, Michael Jordan, as well as Hall of Famer James Worthy and the ageless Vince Carter. Duke also produced stars like Kyrie Irving, Grant Hill, JJ Redick, and Zion Williamson, just to name a few. These schools’ football programs have experienced success as well.
There are some other college athletic programs in North Carolina that have betting lines at the top sites, too. Some of the more notable schools include Wake Forest and NC State, and NC’s Appalachian State produced one of the biggest sports betting upsets of all time when they beat the 5th-ranked Michigan Wolverines in 2007.
There are three professional sports teams to bet on in North Carolina as well, as they play host to the Charlotte Hornets of the NBA, the Carolina Hurricanes of the NHL, and the Carolina Panthers in the NFL. Typically, however, North Carolina’s collegiate teams are more popular than the state’s professional clubs in terms of fandom, though pro sports sees more wagering action (primarily because of the wagering market associated with the NFL).