The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians managed by Caesars is set to start offering legal sports wagering in North Carolina.
They made this possible last week when North Carolina became the latest US state of the 19 who have now made it legal.
Governor Roy Cooper paved the way for two tribal casinos to offer sports betting when he signed bill S154.
They are Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel and Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort.
A second bill on sports betting bill has been delayed subject to further information being gathered.
No provision yet for mobile sports betting
We believe it involves online betting for which it has yet made no provision. Currently, all bets are placed in-person at the two Casinos.
However, unlike most other states, it will be legal in North Carolina to make wagers on the state’s college teams. The colleges include Duke University and the University of North Carolina which have especially strong basketball sides.
The absence of online, mobile betting at this stage has come as a surprise to wagering observers – for good reason.
Mobile wagering has been the major reason New Jersey is US Sports betting’s highest flyer right now.
Over 80% of its $3.2 billion first-year handle came from online bets. Equally significantly a fair chunk of this came via the mobile phones of residents of New York and Pennsylvania.
Neither state during this time offered mobile betting, so thousands of punters regularly used NJ’s online betting apps.
Beating the Wire Act
To beat the Wire Act, they nipped inside the Garden State’s borders, made smartphone wagers and then headed home.
The result? Pennsylvania has now legalized online wagering and legislators of New York are working hard at making it happen there too.
Other states offering online betting include Illinois and New Hampshire.
Because of the absence of mobile betting, a similar scenario could apply in North Carolina. As in Pennsylvania and New York, an immediate neighbor is offering North Carolina mobile betting. In this case, it is Tennessee which has no Casinos and only offers online betting.
North Carolina is one of the newest states to get sports betting since the Supreme Court overturned PASPA. For decades this Federal law had forbid sports betting in all but five US states.
One of them was Nevada, which was to become the gaming capital of America.
Nineteen states now allow sports betting
Of the 19 states that now allow sports wagering, New Jersey was fastest out of the blocks. In June its total turnover in bets exceeded Nevada’s for the first time.
Along with New Jersey, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New York, North Carolina and Tennessee, other states where sports betting is now legal are: Arkansas, Delaware, the District of Colombia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, and West Virginia.
Eight States have said no or have shown no interest in sports betting. They are Alaska, Florida, Idaho, Nebraska, North Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
The remaining 23 including California and Texas have had sports bills put on the table. Some enjoy passing, others have more questionable futures.
However, it wouldn’t surprise if half-a-dozen or more have not signed sports betting into law by the year’s end.
