North Carolina sports betting handle hits record $685 million in March

Total spend surpassed the prior record of $659.3 million, set in March last year, by 3.9%. Incidentally, March 2024 was the first month of legal online sports betting in North Carolina.

The sportsbooks’ handle also beat the $526 million bet in February this year by 30.2%, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission reports.

In total, $667.1 million of the amount bet in March was listed as “paid wagering revenue”. The other $17.9 million was reported as “promotional” revenue.

Betting revenue falls again in March

The commission noted $3.2 million in voided and cancelled bets, while players won $643.7 million back from betting.

As such, this left $38.1 million in gross wagering revenue. Not only is this 42.7% less than March 2024 but also 31.6% behind February, making it North Carolina’s third-lowest monthly amount on record.

This resulted in a monthly hold of 5.78%, while the state collected an estimated $6.9 million in sports betting tax.

The commission does not publish a full breakdown of monthly operator performance. Eight online operators are currently active in North Carolina, with FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM and Fanatics among them.