NC Sports Fans Bet More Than Ever Before, Breaking Records

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Sports betting in North Carolina appears to be booming, with players in the Tar Heel State gambling more than $800 million last month on their favorite games. 

What makes the figure all the more notable is that the number purely includes online sports betting and not the ever-growing amount of money wagered on offshore online casinos. While there are plenty of people who take part in games on the sites on the list of no account casinos from ValueWalk, where they can take advantage of some sizable bonus offers and avoid lengthy and intrusive Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, from North Carolina, their activity is not included in the figures. This is because these online casinos are all based outside of the state. 

The news that more money had been gambled on sports by North Carolinians in a month than ever before was confirmed in a report by the North Carolina State Lottery Commission. The Commission’s data also revealed that people won a total of more than $717 million in November 2025 and that online sports betting had enjoyed an overall profit of $92.9 million, making it the second-best month ever for revenue since online sports betting began operating in a regulated environment in March 2024. The record month remains April last year, when the state’s gross wagering revenue topped a little more than $105 million. 

Bettors had helped raise more than $16.7 million towards state coffers in November, the Commission said. 

The record betting figure represents a 27 per cent increase from the same time last year, when the total amount wagered by punters from their own money came to a little more than $638.6 million. 

It is worth pointing out that, in less than two years since online sports betting was made available to residents of North Carolina, it has generated more than $12 billion in revenue. 

A collection of separate sporting events helped generate betting from sports fans in North Carolina to new heights in November. 

The current NFL season is very much in the thick of its action, with the Carolina Panthers just maintaining a winning record and, metaphorically speaking, encouraging their fans to put their money where their mouths are. Meanwhile, college sports are still very popular with people in the state. In the state where Michael Jordan first came to the attention of the world of basketball, both varsity hoops and gridiron at the state’s  52 universities all have a large set of devoted fans, and, since 2023, more than a few of them have placed bets on their teams. At the same time, the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets and the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes’ fans are also placing bets on their respective competitions, adding to the state’s reputation as a hotbed of sporting activity. 

Sports betting is not the only sort of gambling available to people in the Old North State. North Carolina is home to three tribally run casinos in Cherokee, Murphy, and Kings Mountain. Meanwhile, bingo and raffles may be held, so long as they are run by non-profit organizations and the proceeds go to good causes. Online sports betting was finally legalized in June 2023 when House Bill 347 was signed into law by state Governor Roy Cooper. The same legislation also allowed for horse racing betting to take place, using a pari mutuel, or pool, system. However, since there are no racecourses in the state, it remains an off-course activity. Meanwhile, the same law means that any online sports book operator has to partner with an established professional sports team, organization, or venue. Even though the bill was signed in the summer of 2023, people who wanted to take part in sports betting in North Carolina, whether in person or online, had to wait around three months before they could officially do so, with the sports books opening on 11 March 2024.