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The North Carolina House approved mobile sports gambling Wednesday afternoon, following a second day of vigorous debate and proposed amendments. HB 347 passed by a vote of 64-45, without any amendments. The bill now moves into the North Carolina Senate.
The North Carolina House first voted Tuesday afternoon in favor of the bill, by a 66-45 count.
Representative Jason Saine, R-Lincoln and House Conference chairman, is the lead sponsor of HB 347, which would legalize NC sports betting apps.
“Unfortunately, North Carolina is falling behind. And every month that goes by, we are leaving money on the table,” Saine warned the House during Tuesday’s discussion. Saine said the State stands to lose between $20 to $40 million in annual tax revenue if it continues to ban sports gambling.
Saine testified that all North Carolina professional teams support his bill, and that protections are in place to prevent problem gambling and advertising to underage gamblers. Saine pointed to Ohio’s recent fines imposed on DraftKings and Barstool as evidence of North Carolina’s ability to enforce violations of those protections.
Most anti-bill testimony centered around moral and ethical grounds, with opposition to gambling as a whole, rather than any particular aspect of the bill. Representative Abe Jones, D-Wake, summed up the views of the moral opposition: “The bottom line on this industry, it is a predatory industry. You make your money from preying on the weak.”
In response, Representative John Bradford, R-Mecklenburg, argued that problem gambling already exists in North Carolina, hidden in the shadows of the illegal gambling market. “We cannot help those we cannot find,” Bradford argued. By making mobile sports betting legal, gaming operators can monitor gamblers for potential problem gambling and allow self-reporting and wager limit protections.
Eight amendments were proposed during the hearing, including banning betting on college sports and amateur events, delaying the bill’s implementation, increasing the tax percentage to 51%, banning promotional incentives and “free bets,” banning betting on family members and spouses, and raising the fines for breaking gambling advertising limits to $1,000,000. All the proposed amendments failed to pass a vote.
Sports Betting Apps Expected in NC: bet365 Sportsbook | BetMGM Sportsbook | Caesars Sportsbook | DraftKings Sportsbook | FanDuel Sportsbook
Sports Betting Bill History in North Carolina
The North Carolina House Rules Committee passed the bi-partisan bill Tuesday morning, fast-tracking it for a full house vote.
Although the legislature failed to pass a similar bill last year, Saine believes this North Carolina bi-partisan gambling bill has the compromises needed to make this year different.
“We’ve learned a good bit from both sides about some of the tweaks that needed to happen,” Rep. Saine told WRAL-TV in Raleigh. “We’ve worked to accommodate those concerns, and we believe we have a bill that can do better than pass. It can get broad support from both caucuses.”
However, HB 347 already has a somewhat divisive history, with eight proposed amendments voted down. Much of this debate centered around attempts to limit promotional credits—also known as hook money—which sports wagering operators use to attract new customers.
“This is the money that lures people to begin gambling in the first place,” said Rep. Deb Butler, D-New Hanover, as reported by the Winston-Salem Journal. “You can bet the credit on your account, and then the hook is set and you become a regular customer. We’ll see people who hadn’t thought about gambling being hooked.”
Butler expressed concern that promotional credits are an allowable expense for operators, such that they can deduct them against what taxes are paid.
“That can be an enormous amount of money,” Butler said “so, it’s possible we could make no money at all in Year One.”
Nonetheless, a legislative staff analysis introduced to the House Rules Committee on Tuesday morning estimated sports wagering will eventually generate $40.6 million in annual net economic impact.
