North Carolina
NASCAR Expands Sports Betting In North Carolina, When Remains A Question
CONCORD, NORTH CAROLINA – OCTOBER 08: Tyler Reddick, driver of the #45 Jordan Brand Toyota, … [+]
NASCAR will expand its gaming footprint to include the industry’s traditional home market. When that expansion will happen, however, remains to be determined.
After years of being a taboo subject in the sport, in recent years NASCAR has sought to expand opportunities to engage with fans. One of those engagement opportunities has been gaming though such things as NASCAR fantasy leagues and last season a Powerball promotion that ran nearly the entire season culminating in a $1 million prize given away at the season’s final championship race at Phoenix.
Online sports gambling has been gaining in popularity since 2018 when a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed individual states to legalize and regulate sports betting. Currently 35 states allow some form of legal sports betting, with 21 offering full online wagering, and four with more restricted mobile betting.
NASCAR has been moving towards online gambling in recent years. In 2020 they put a policy in place that prohibited drivers, owners, crew members, and officials from betting on NASCAR races and barred them from revealing any inside information for “their own gain, or for the gain of others.”
In 2021 NASCAR became the first sports league to partner with the American Gaming Association. Richard Childress Racing became the first team to jump on board signing with BetMGM as a sponsor in 2021.
Prior to the start of the 2023 season NASCAR joined with gaming partners BetMGM, WynnBET and Penn Entertainment
PENN
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – AUGUST 15: Tyler Reddick, #8 Richard Childress Racing, Chevrolet Camaro BetMGM … [+]
North Carolina passed a bill last year that authorized up to 12 legal online sportsbooks, as well as eight in-person sportsbooks at professional sports venues in the state. The law was later amended to require that each operator have a license agreement with a professional sports organization within the state. Each of those licenses carries a $1 million fee for five years as well as an 18% tax with revenues supporting many of North Carolina’s publicly funded colleges and supporting a major event fund which the state hopes to use to recruit national sports and entertainment events for additional tourism, job creation and economic impacts.
Under the new law there are currently 11 organizations qualified to partner with the legal online sportsbooks. NASCAR was listed alongside the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets, the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes, and the NFL’s Carolina Panthers among others. Also listed were Charlotte Motor Speedway and North Wilkesboro Speedway, both owned by Speedway Motorsports.
This past week both of NASCAR’s eligible entities announced online sportsbooks partnerships.
Friday, Speedway Motorsports announced a market access agreement with BetMGM and Charlotte Motor Speedway that will allow BetMGM to bring its online sports betting platform to the state.
“We wanted to move forward into this new era of sports entertainment with a progressive sportsbook,” said Charlotte Motor Speedway executive vice president and general manager Greg Walter. “This partnership with BetMGM will bring sports fans new ways to enjoy their favorite events while expanding North Carolina’s tax base, supporting colleges and facilitating recruitment of major events for the future.”
Shortly after the Speedway Motorsports announcement, NASCAR announced they have come to an agreement with DraftKings that will allow the digital sports entertainment and gaming company to operate in the state of North Carolina.
People check out a Michael Jordan-themed Bubba Wallace race car parked outside DraftKings Sportsbook … [+]
The announcement added that DraftKings also has been named the exclusive daily fantasy sports partner of NASCAR in the United States and Canada, becomes an Authorized Gaming Operator of NASCAR, and will receive additional sponsorship benefits within the NASCAR ecosystem nationally.
“DraftKings and NASCAR have collaborated closely with each other over the years, sharing a likeminded commitment to enhancing the fan experience,” said Matt Kalish, president, DraftKings North America. “We look forward to the next chapter in our journey together and offering our leading mobile sportsbook to fans in the state of North Carolina.”
When all this will happen in North Carolina, however, remains to be seen as the formal start date for sports betting in the state hasn’t been finalized. State officials overseeing sports betting met this past week to discuss policies and rules that will take effect once the all-clear is given. The date for that all-clear though wasn’t announced.
The period for legalization and the all-clear starts Monday, January 8, though state officials said it will not in reality launch that early. A target date of March 17 was discussed which is the day the NCAA’s Men’s Basketball Tournament will begin but when the actual date will be released is still up in the air.
According to reports legal sports betting in North Carolina could generate $610.7 million in revenue for the state. NASCAR doesn’t share in any of the revenue generated from its gaming partners, instead they benefit from the marketing provided by those partners whose reach extends far beyond the sport.
For now, North Carolina residents and visitors can only bet in person at one of three tribal casinos in the state. But once the all-clear is given NASCAR could see its fans betting on races in the stands at Charlotte Motor Speedway and everywhere else in North Carolina.
North Carolina coach Bill Belichick has fired offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and special-teams coordinator Mike Priefer.
“We want to thank Coach Kitchens and Coach Priefer for their commitment and many contributions to our program and student-athletes,” Belichick said in a statement, per ESPN. “We wish them both nothing but the best in their future endeavors.”
Kitchens, the former Alabama quarterback and head coach of the Browns in 2019, was the Tar Heels’ interim coach in 2024.
Belichick brought Priefer to UNC after two decades in the NFL, and two years out of football.
Under Kitchens, North Carolina’s offense ranked 119th in scoring (19.3 PPG) and 129th in total offense (288.8 YPG).
The Tar Heels finished 4-8 overall and 2-6 in the ACC.
Kitchens won Alabama’s Mr. Football honor in 1992 as the quarterback at Etowah High School.
Kitchens shared the quarterback duties at Alabama with Brian Burgdorf in 1995 before taking over full-time under center for the Crimson Tide in the 1996 and 1997 seasons.
After three more college stops, Kitchens entered the NFL as the Dallas Cowboys’ tight-ends coach in 2006 and stayed in the league for the next 17 seasons, including as Cleveland’s head coach in 2019, when the Browns went 6-10.
North Carolina
Ex-senator’s wife, 75, found escaped inmate cowering in the backseat of her car: ‘I was shaking like a leaf’
The 75-year-old wife of a former Republican North Carolina senator had a frightening start to her week when she discovered an escaped inmate hiding in the backseat of her car, according to local reports.
Marie Steinburg, married to ex-State Senator Bob Steinberg, left her Edenton home for work around 7:30 a.m. Monday when she unlocked her Honda Civic and found 23-year-old accused thief Charles Babb cowering in the backseat, with a blanket wrapped around his orange prison jumpsuit.
“I headed out the door, and I clicked the unlock, and it must have scared the guy, because the next thing I know, I saw something moving in my backseat,” the startled senior said, WTKR reported.
“I kept backing up little by little by little because I thought, I don’t know what this man is going to do.”
Babb — who police said escaped from the Chowan County Detention Center Sunday night — then jumped out the car.
While residents were urged to lock their doors and windows, stay inside, and avoid interacting with the armed and dangerous fugitive, Steinburg said she remained calm and began talking to him.
“I figured if I was nice to him, he’d be nice to me,” she said, WAVY reported.
“I just figured that was the thing to do because I didn’t know if he was really dangerous,” Steinburg explained, adding that “he kept saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’m so cold.’ And, you know, I was startled and I know he was too. And I said, “Well, hey, let me go in and get you a coat.’”
Steinburg said Babb then turned and raced down the driveway — reportedly leaving behind his prison sandals and a face mask — as she ran inside, called out to her husband, and dialed 911.
“I got in as fast as I could,” she recalled, according to WTKR.
“I was shaking like a leaf, and I could barely get the key in the lock, but I did.”
The Edenton Police Department apprehended the convict nearby shortly thereafter.
Police did not give details on how Babb escaped jail, other than to say he used a make-shift edged weapon. He was being held on felony breaking and entering and larceny charges before his breakout, according to the Daily Advance.
Her husband, who advocated for prison reform during his 10 years in office, praised his wife for how she handled the terrifying situation, believing a higher power was looking out for them.
The couple added that they will never forget to lock their car doors again.
“Oh let me tell you, if I don’t, [my husband] is gonna,” a relieved Steinberg said.
“It’s one of those things that we learned.”
The Chowan County Sheriff’s Office has since launched an investigation into Babb’s jailbreak.
Injuries are an unfortunate element in sports, and that has been relevant for the North Carolina Tar Heels this season. Now, most of the time, those injuries occur in games or practices. That was not the case for Seth Trimble, who suffered a broken arm in a workout accident.
The senior guard has not played since the second game of the season against the Kansas Jayhawks on Nov. 7.
Although the injury forced the Tar Heels’ coaching staff and players into an uncomfortable situation, the team has responded, winning six of seven games in Trimble’s absence. You never want to see a player suffer a significant injury, but in this particular case, it has opened the door to possibilities that North Carolina may not have been aware of if this never transpired.
Here is why Trimble’s injury has not been doom and gloom for the Tar Heels in this early portion of the season.
Unlocking a Potential Star Off the Bench
Before the last two games, North Carolina’s backcourt situation appeared to be a significant shortcoming for the Tar Heels. Because of that, Davis was forced to expand his bench with the hopes of unlocking the offense while supplying consistent production.
That has elevated freshman guard Derek Dixon’s role in the rotation, which has proven to be pivotal in North Carolina’s wins in the last two games against Kentucky and Georgetown. During that span, the 6-foot-5 guard has averaged 11.5 points while shooting 53.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range.
With the rotation becoming solidified in recent weeks, head coach Hubert Davis explained how the backcourt has taken shape following the Tar Heels’ win over Georgetown on Sunday.
- “I really like [Kyan] and Derek [Dixon] on the floor at the same time,” Davis continued. “I’ve always said that I love multiple ball handlers. You can’t take us out of our offense. And with those two, with the way that Georgetown was switching defenses, we always had somebody that can handle the basketball and get us into a set and get us organized.”
- “So, it’s trying to figure out rotations,” Davis continued. “And then when Seth comes back, it’s finding it again. Different combinations is one of the things that I was excited about coming into the season. That is the versatility that we have, that we can throw out a number of different rotations out there that can be really effective on the floor.”
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