The NC Lottery Commission’s Sports Betting Committee approved a proposed second round of sports betting and parimutuel wagering rules at its meeting on Nov. 7.
During the meeting, Sterl Carpenter, deputy executive director of sports betting, put forth the second, more robust, round of sports betting rules and addressed an attendant public comment period.
The NCLC agreed unanimously with the proposed rules, and, under the committee’s expedited rulemaking process, started the public comment period which runs until Nov. 27.
The Commission has not yet nailed down a launch date and has until June 14, 2024, to launch online sports betting in North Carolina.
Second round of NC sports betting rules covers more ground
Carpenter introduced the second round of sports betting rules to the NCLC, which included expanded rules around “general wagering” and introduced new rules specific to “sports wagering.”
Some of the new rules and regulations proposed in Chapter 1 “General Wagering” include:
– Disciplinary actions (Chapter 1C).
– Auditing and internal controls (1D).
– House wagering rules (1E).
– Responsible gaming (1F).
– Setting up wagering accounts (1G).
– In-person betting facilities (1H).
– Advertising and marketing (1I).
New rules from Chapter 2 “Sports Wagering” include:
– Sports permissible for wagering, wager types and data sources for sports betting (2C).
– Mobile sports betting technology oversight (2D).
With this second round of rules, the parameters of North Carolina sports betting will begin to take shape, including the state’s approach to responsible gambling in North Carolina and the bet types we can expect across different sports and leagues.
A public comment period on this round of rules begins today, Nov. 7, and runs through Nov. 27 with a public hearing scheduled for Nov. 20. If you’re interested in participating, NCSharp has a primer on how to submit a public comment.
The NC Lottery’s sports betting launch timeline thus far
After Gov. Cooper signed House Bill 347, which legalized online sports betting and parimutuel wagering, into law on June 14, the NC Lottery spent four months assembling a team and hiring contractors to aid in the launch.
The first NCLC Sports Betting Committee meeting took place on Oct. 17. In that meeting, Carpenter introduced a first round of rules, primarily definitions, and kicked off the first public comment period on the NCLC’s first batch of rules.
That public comment period lasted until Nov. 1 and included a public hearing on Oct. 27 and an online form for further public comment. (NB: the same form can be used for public comments on any round of rules.)
Under the North Carolina Lottery’s Policies and Procedures Manual, an expedited rulemaking process may begin if “the Commission’s standard rulemaking procedure would be contrary to the public interest.”
In the expedited framework, the public comment period can be reduced to “no fewer than 15 calendar days.”
The NCLC followed that timeline with the first round of rule-making and is sticking close to it for the second round with a bit of extra time added in to account for the Thanksgiving holiday.
NCLC could finalize all rules by spring 2024
Looking ahead, Carpenter and the NCLC Sports Betting Committee may need at least two or three more rounds of rules to finalize this part of the launch process.
The third round of rule-making will likely begin at the Dec. 6 NCLC meeting. Under expedited circumstances and considering that the winter holidays may slow them down, that round would likely conclude early in the new year.
If two more rounds followed, the full rulemaking process could run through late March.
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