North Carolina sports betting bill passes legislature
A sports betting bill in North Carolina now faces its final hurdle of being signed off by Governor Roy Cooper, after the legislature passed it on Monday.
The House voted 90-27 in favour of adding sports betting to Class III games offered at two Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian casinos.
Bill S 154 was passed by the Senate in April and saw support from Representative Kevin Corbin and Senator Jim Davis.
Davis is reported to have said: “I’ve been a champion for expanding gaming opportunities for the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians for years.
“They’ve been a great economic generator for the Western region of our state, and I’m happy to play a small part in the good they do for this region.”
Both Davis and Corbin have Cherokee casinos in their districts.
At the start of the year, it looked like North Carolina would be one of the first states to regulate sports betting in 2019.
However, bill H 929 was introduced by Representative Harry Warren and called for an advanced study of sports betting. Representatives were then unsure about how to proceed with the vertical.
There were also recent debates on banning wagers on college sports which slowed down proceedings. This language has not been included in the bill passed to Governor Cooper.
Another bill, one to form a North Carolina Gaming Commission, is currently under consideration with the Senate.
This was withdrawn on Monday to provide more time to analyse the language involved, but could be passed this week.
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