North Carolina
North Carolina Fields Seven Sportsbook Applications
Posted on: January 1, 2024, 12:01h.
Last updated on: January 1, 2024, 12:14h.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission last week unveiled the list of companies that applied to receive retail and online sports betting privileges ahead of the agency’s “recommended submission” deadline of Dec. 27.
Sports betting market leaders DraftKings and FanDuel highlight the group of seven that additionally includes BetMGM, ESPN Bet, Fanatics, bet365, and Underdog Sports. State lawmakers and Gov. Roy Cooper (D) legalized commercial sports gambling last June.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission, which is tasked with licensing and regulating the state’s newly expanded gaming industry, says it’ll need up to 90 days to review the online sports betting applications and issue licenses.
The law requires that such betting commence by June 15, 2024. But Cooper wants sportsbooks to begin taking bets in time for March Madness — the 2024 NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament.
North Carolina is home to arguably the biggest rivalry in college basketball, with the North Carolina Tar Heels and Duke Blue Devils blood enemies. The programs are respectively ranked No. 9 and No. 16 in the AP Top 25 poll. The blueblood programs are near perennial bracket entries.
Partnerships Align
North Carolina’s sports betting law requires sportsbook companies to partner with a professional sports team, venue, or one of two qualifying sports organizations — the PGA Tour and NASCAR.
FanDuel is partnered with the PGA Tour. Fanatics’ application is in conjunction with the NHL Carolina Hurricanes, while ESPN Bet is aligned with Quail Hollow Club, an annual stop on the PGA Tour that hosts the Wells Fargo Championship. Bet365 is bidding with the NBA Charlotte Hornets.
The three remaining applicants did not publicly disclose their professional sports partners. Potential partners include the NFL Carolina Panthers, National Women’s Soccer League’s North Carolina Courage, Charlotte Motor Speedway, and NASCAR.
If approved, sportsbook firms will be allowed to operate in-person and online sports betting. Their retail facilities will only be permitted at the host stadium or venue of their partnered organization.
Each sportsbook license costs a one-time $1 million fee. Gross revenue will be subject to an 18% tax. The state will appropriate much of the tax benefit to support collegiate athletics at state universities. Thirteen schools will receive up to $300,000 annually from the gaming expansion:
- Appalachian State University
- East Carolina University
- Elizabeth City State University
- Fayetteville State University
- North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University
- North Carolina Central University
- University of North Carolina at Asheville
- University of North Carolina at Charlotte
- University of North Carolina at Greensboro
- University of North Carolina at Pembroke
- University of North Carolina at Wilmington
- Western Carolina University
- Winston-Salem State University
Along with the seven commercial sportsbook bids, Caesars Sportsbook is expected to apply as a licensed service provider to operate an online book on behalf of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. Caesars operates the tribe’s two casinos in North Carolina — Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River.
For the tribe to gain online sports betting rights, Cooper must agree to amend the state’s Class III gaming compact to allow such gambling. The state is home to a third tribal casino in Kings Mountain called Catawba Two Kings Casino. The temporary casino is owned by the Catawba Indian Nation.
Can Underdogs Compete?
DraftKings and FanDuel dominate the U.S. sports betting landscape, with estimates suggesting they control as much as 75% of the industry. Their control led to a market consolidation last year, as many upstarts folded, including Fox Bet, WynnBet, and MaximBet.
Underdog is a new daily fantasy sports and sportsbook startup from Jeremy Levine, who cofounded the StarStreet and DRAFT fantasy apps that were acquired, respectively, by DraftKings and Paddy Power Betfair. Underdog recently gained its first online sports betting license via Ohio.
Underdog and the others bidding in North Carolina believe 2024 could be the year when smaller sportsbooks begin cutting into DraftKings and FanDuel’s market share. ESPN Bet is Penn Entertainment’s $1.5 billion wager on the industry after agreeing to pay ESPN that amount to leverage the sports media brand into its sports betting business.
The North Carolina Tar Heels host the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday night at the Dean E. Smith Center in a monumental game for head coach Hubert Davis and his team. Here are quotes from this week that carry weight into this contest.
Seth Trimble’s Aggressive Mindset
- “The thing that I loved about him was he was thinking attack. He wasn’t coming off looking to pass,” Davis said. “One of the things that I’ve told him is when you come off a ball screen, you’re 100% thinking score, and then let the defense dictate whether you make a pass or you go to the basket. And Seth’s ability to be able to get downhill, he was able to score, draw fouls, just a huge difference maker for us.”
- “And I feel like now that Caleb [Wilson] has been out, he’s definitely been more of the go-to guy, and he’s had a lot more opportunities,” Henri Veesaar said. “I feel like he flipped a switch in the second half of Syracuse and that kind of just carried over, because he started being more aggressive, getting downhill, and that carried over into the next game.”
- “The coaches have been on me,” Trimble said. “I know I said it; I’ve said this over and over again, but they’ve been on me just to go and just finish, you know, coming off the ball screen, go, look to score, you know, don’t look to pass. Don’t look to make a play. Go to score. And then things are going to happen from that. And then I’m going to be able to kick out, going to be able to hit Henri [Veesaar].”
Defensive Fortitude
- “We were ready – just being ready on the defensive end and making them score over us,” Veesaar said. “I feel like on the defensive end most of the time, most of the games, we control the way we play, and as long as we don’t make any [mistakes]…today we were talking, communicating the whole game. So that was really good.”
- “It was a huge point to try and slow down Mikel [Brown Jr.] and [Ryan] Conwell,” Trimble said. “They’re two incredible guards, two of the best guards in the ACC. So, if you can shut them down, you can put yourself in a good position to win. Now, we didn’t necessarily shut them down, obviously, but efficiency wise, they didn’t have the best game, and it made it difficult. So, I think we did a good job.”
- “[With] so many gifted guys that can score in many different areas, one of the things that we wanted to do is just make every catch, make every move, make every shot difficult,” Davis continued. “And I just felt like throughout the game, they got worn down and tired. And I think that’s why a lot of their threes hit front rim or air ball, because of the fatigue.”
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GOLDSBORO, N.C. — A rancher in North Carolina had a nightmare experience in a car wash recently, when wire fencing sitting in the bed of his pickup truck got entangled in the rotating brushes.
Kyle Corbett shared video of the aftermath on TikTok, writing, “Lesson today is don’t go in the car wash with high tensile wire in the bed of your truck.”
“I needed to put up more fence for my cattle, so I purchased this reel of high tensile wire the night before, and the next day I went up town to take care of some business at the bank,” Corbett said. “I decided to run through the car wash ‘real quick’ and didn’t think about that wire.”
“I never use that truck for any work. I went to the car wash and the guys checked my truck out for safety. I went through and that’s when all hell broke loose,” he said.
“It wrapped up half of the fence in just a matter of seconds and beat the hell out of that car behind me. It sounded like a war zone,” he added.
“This is not good…yeah that’s terrible,” he says in the footage as he’s filming the mess.
DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) — Bourbon is more than a business for Jesse Carpenter — it’s a tribute to the city that shaped him.
“This is Durham. This is where I’m from. This is where I grew up,” said Carpenter, Chief Product Officer of Old Hillside Bourbon.
The company he co-founded with childhood friends takes its name and identity from one of Durham’s most iconic institutions-Hillside High School, one of the oldest historically Black high schools in the nation.
“We graduated Class of 1993 from Hillside High School,” Carpenter said. “Concord and Lawson Street. It’s the old Hillside.”
The idea took root during the pandemic when Carpenter proposed starting a bourbon company to those same friends.
“I had an idea to start a bourbon company, and they were on board,” he said. “Friends from 30 years ago, and now we’re doing this business together. It’s awesome.”
From 300 Cases to 10,000
What began as a pandemic-era idea has evolved into a rapidly growing business.
In its inaugural year, Old Hillside distributed 300 cases; this year, the company anticipates 10,000. The bourbon also earned Best in Show at the 2023 TAG Global Spirits Awards, impressing even the most discerning craft bourbon critics.
“Let me focus on the aroma — layers of oak, vanilla,” one reviewer commented on the Bourbon Banter YouTube channel, concluding with, “I think it’s a great taste.”
SEE MORE NC MADE STORIES
A Bottle Full of Stories
Beyond its flavor, Old Hillside stands out for the history embedded in its label. Each vintage pays homage to a chapter of Black American history that might otherwise remain overlooked.
The inaugural bottle features a photo of the old Hillside High building, symbolizing the school’s deep community ties. A second flavor pays tribute to the African American jockeys who dominated the Kentucky Derby before the Jim Crow era effectively pushed them out of the sport. The company’s latest release honors the Harlem Hellfighters, the renowned all-Black military unit that served with distinction in World War I.
It’s a storytelling approach that Carpenter and his team are actively working to spread across North Carolina. Brand ambassadors Corey Carpenter and Amire Schealey are on the front lines of that effort.
“More bars and restaurants — tackling different markets,” said Corey Carpenter. Schealey added that the team is “setting up tastings at different ABC boards to build up our brand and presence around the state of North Carolina.”
Like many acclaimed bourbons, Old Hillside is distilled and bottled in Kentucky. But its founders are quick to point out where its true spirit comes from.
“Old Hillside is a lifestyle,” Jesse Carpenter said. “Not just a school-friendship and camaraderie. That’s what we do.”
SEE ALSO | NC Made: Raleigh jewelry brand AnnaBanana grows from UNC dorm room to statewide success
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