Fittingly, the first bet made with BetMGM Sportsbook NC had the Tar Heels winning the NCAA Tournament.
Based on a newsletter from BetMGM press partner, Kirvin Doak, day one of legal sports betting in North Carolina was a “smash success.”
North Carolina became the 30th state to launch online sports betting when it debuted with eight sportsbooks at Noon on Monday, March 11. BetMGM provided the following highlights of the first 24 hours of North Carolina online sports betting.
Key day-one betting highlights at BetMGM Sportsbook NC
BetMGM entered the North Carolina market through a partnership with Charlotte Motor Speedway. A perennial contender for the podium of top US sportsbooks, BetMGM enters North Carolina a month after upgrading its sports betting app. NC bettors are among the first to experience the new app, and they did so on Monday.
Here are the key bets and bet trends at BetMGM Sportsbook on launch day in North Carolina.
First bet with BetMGM is on Tar Heels at +1800
The first wager placed in NC at Noon on Monday with BetMGM was $100 on North Carolina men’s basketball to win the NCAA Tournament. At +1800, if that wager wins, it will pay $1,800 to the lucky ticket holder.
UNC begins its bid for the ACC Tournament championship tomorrow morning.
Panthers drawing fifth-most bets to win next Super Bowl
Super Bowl betting will be immensely popular in NC, as it is in other states. Early on, football fans in North Carolina are throwing their support to their home team: According to BetMGM, 8.3% of wagers (the fifth-most among NFL teams) in North Carolina have been placed by users betting on the Carolina Panthers. Odds are +25000 for the Panthers to win Super Bowl 59, the longest in the league.
The Pittsburgh Steelers (14.3%), Philadelphia Eagles (10.5%), and Kansas City Chiefs (10.5%), drew the most bets for Super Bowl winner on the first day of sports betting in NC.
“The passion of North Carolina’s sports fandom runs deep, making it one of BetMGM’s most electrifying new markets,” Adam Greenblatt, CEO of BetMGM, said in a prepared statement announcing the launch of the sportsbook in North Carolina.
Nearly half of NC March Madness bet tickets list Tar Heels as champs
March Madness betting will tip off eight days after the first day of sports betting in NC. That’s appropriate, considering the iconic history of college basketball in the state.
On day one, this is how NC sports bettors wagered on the Futures Bet: “Winner of NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament”:
- North Carolina: 47.9%
- Connecticut: 9.5%
- Houston: 8.1%
- Duke: 4.2%
Combined, Duke and UNC accounted for 52.1% of the March Madness winner futures bets on day one.
The Tar Heels are the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament, which began on Tuesday. Duke, Wake Forest, and NC State are also in position to appear in the NCAA tournament, which begins March 21 with round one games.
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