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Brett Jensen from WBT News joins Jeff Rickard on Charlotte Sports Today to discuss the North Carolina sports betting bill that just passed in the Senate and the House. Governor Cooper already said he will pass the bill when it lands on his desk so we can definitely expect sports betting to be legal in North Carolina in the near future. Here is what we can expect to come from this bill.
Betting on horse racing is now included in the bill, this is something that was added when the Senate re-wrote the bill. This will now create opportunities to build horse racing tracks in the state. A few years ago there was a rumor that there would be a horse racing track built near Carowinds which never came to fruition, so maybe this will spark that conversation again.
This bill also allows the construction of sportsbooks, one of which is going to be right near the Panthers stadium and the Honeywell building. Harrah’s Casino is already the official tailgating partner of the Panthers so expect that partnership to provide plenty of opportunities to place some bets near the Panthers stadium.
Pop-Up betting sites at NASCAR races and golfing events will also be allowed alongside popular betting apps such as FanDuel. Sports betting will also be allowed on North Carolina college sports and Olympic events, both of which were not allowed in the previous version of the bill that was rejected a year ago.
Companies that provide sports betting will be taxed 18% on winnings which goes right back to the state. It is estimated that North Carolina will make $75 million every year from this tax. Some of this money is allocated to go towards the North Carolina University system to benefit schools such as UNCG, UNCP, UNCC, etc. with most of the money going to their athletic programs.
Brett Jensen also discusses the LIV Golf and PGA Tour situation. It is thought that the PGA would have only lasted two more years before going bankrupt. They couldn’t compete with the prize money as well as the legal fees with the lawsuit against the LIV Tour. PGA also raised prices for advertisers causing many to cancel sponsorship. Companies that already backed out of sponsorships include Honda and Charles Schwab.
LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH BRETT JENSEN HERE:
WBT’s Brett Jensen Joins WFNZ to Discuss NC Betting Bill was originally published on wfnz.com
