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Gaming Edge’s TL;DR
- A new Meredith College poll suggests North Carolina voters are broadly comfortable with how the state regulates sports betting.
- They are far less supportive of prediction markets.
A majority of registered voters in North Carolina said they are satisfied with the state’s current regulation of sports gambling, according to a poll conducted July 1-8 by Meredith College.
The findings arrive as the state continues adjusting its gambling framework after legalizing online sports betting in 2024 and recently raising taxes on operators.
The poll found that 51% of registered voters were satisfied with the level of state regulation of sports gambling. Another 11% said they were dissatisfied, while 38% said they did not know.
On prediction markets, the response was more negative. Two-thirds of registered voters said they would support state legislation banning them. Just 24% said prediction markets should be legal in North Carolina, and 8% said they did not know.
Majority concerned about underage gambling
That split may reflect limited public familiarity with the products. Only 15% of respondents said they were very familiar with prediction markets, 38% said they were somewhat familiar, and 47% said they were unfamiliar. The article referenced operators including Kalshi and Polymarket.
The survey also showed voters drawing distinctions within gambling concerns. A total of 58% said they were concerned about illegal sports betting by people under 21, while 32% were unconcerned. For adults ages 21 to 30, concern was lower but still significant: 47% expressed some concern, versus 43% who expressed some level of unconcern.
Exactly half of participants said they were concerned about sports betting’s impact on college athletes, while 36% said they had little or no concern.
Meredith Poll director David McLennan said:
“Concerns were substantially greater when questions focused on underage gambling, young adults, or college athletes than when respondents evaluated sports betting in general.”
In the most recent budget, Republican legislators raised the state tax on sports betting operators from 18% to 23%. They also imposed a new 6% tax on prediction market operators in North Carolina.
The poll surveyed 1,022 registered voters and reported a credibility interval of plus or minus 3%.
Based on reporting by Christine Zhu for NC Newsline.
