The North Carolina Lottery Commission made clear what most people had already presumed: online sports betting won’t go live on Jan. 8, 2024, the opening of the launch window.
Commissioner Cari Boyce, during the Nov. 14 meeting, stated that launching online sports betting by the Jan. 8 deadline would take “almost daily meetings,” which clearly is not going to happen.
This comes as no surprise after the NCLC has taken over four months to propose its first draft of rules and regulations for North Carolina online sports betting.
Carpenter clarifies pathway to NC online sports betting launch
The Nov. 14 NCLC meeting allowed the Commission to address public comments on its first batch of rules and regulations and lay out the table of approved bet types and sports markets.
Sterl Carpenter, deputy executive director of sports betting, walked through the process of sports betting operator approval, which has yet to begin.
Carpenter explained that applicants who receive initial approval to launch online sports betting cannot begin to offer online sports betting. They must first submit their internal controls documenting how they plan to uphold the state’s rules and regulations to the Committee for approval. Only after those have been approved would they be permitted to launch.
However, Carpenter further indicated that those applicants who had received full approval for their internal controls could only launch once the Committee sets a launch date, which they still need to set.
At this point, Commissioner Boyce thanked Carpenter for clarifying the process. She then playfully implied that this process could not happen before Jan. 8, the opening of the launch window.
Next NCLC meeting to review first batch of sports betting rules
The next NCLC meeting will occur virtually on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 10:00 a.m. The Commission will review the first batch of rules for sports betting operations and likely give a final ruling on their status.
Following that meeting, a public hearing on the second batch of sports betting rules will occur on Nov. 20 and a final deadline for public comment on the second batch will arrive on Nov. 27.
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