All About North Carolina Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

By Thomas Leary

@thelearythomas

June 17, 2026 03:55pm

BetCarolina.com, your home for expertise on all North Carolina sports betting topics, has assembled this guide to explain terms such as handle, revenue and tax collections.

The state launched its legal mobile sports betting market on March 11, 2024. North Carolina has eight mobile operators offering a variety of wagers throughout the state. There are also a few retail outlets at tribal casinos in North Carolina.

To place a wager on the outcome of a sporting event, or a specific statistic within a game (this is known as prop betting), you must be physically located within the Tar Heel State. Like the other 30-plus states with mobile sports wagering, North Carolina uses geolocation technology to ensure that wagers are being placed legally within the state by a bettor who has an account with an online operator.

The companies offering North Carolina sportsbook apps include the major names you have probably heard of, even if you are new to sports betting. BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and ESPN BET all have North Carolina online sportsbooks. The other operators as of January 2026 are bet365, Fanatics and Underdog Sports.

Sportsbooks in the state have partnered with various pro sports teams or other entities in North Carolina that hold major sporting events. For instance, BetMGM has a deal with Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord and Fanatics NC Sportsbook has partnered with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes.

You can place a wager with any of those NC sports betting companies by signing up and using your smart phone, laptop or desktop computer to wager.

North Carolina Sports Betting, May. vs. April

The North Carolina sports betting market continued its seasonal cooldown in May, but the decline was far more modest than the previous month's drop. The figures the North Carolina State Lottery Commission released tell a story of a market that has found a steady footing in its second full year of operation.

The mobile sports betting handle was $578,070,325 in May. That is a 5.6% decrease from April, when the state's legal online sportsbooks accepted $612,495,383 in wagers. However, last month's handle was 2.8% higher than May 2025 ($562,236,652) in a year-over-year comparison, a strong indicator that legal sports betting interest continues to rise.

May's gross wagering revenue (GWR) derived from sports betting was $64,318,908, essentially flat compared to April's $64,464,939 (down just 0.2%). While handle dropped 5.6% month over month, operators held a better percentage of wagers in May, keeping revenue virtually unchanged. The hold rate ticked up to 11.1% in May from 10.5% in April.

Year-over-year, May 2026 revenue was down 1.4% from May 2025 ($65,227,119), as operators posted a slightly lower hold rate compared to a year ago (11.1% vs. 11.6%).

North Carolina taxes sportsbook revenue at an 18% rate, so the state collected an estimated $11,577,403 in May, down slightly from the previous month ($11,603,689) and from 12 months earlier ($11,740,881).

Through 11 months of fiscal year 2026 (July through May), North Carolina sportsbooks have accepted $7.026B in total wagers, generated $739.250M in gross wagering revenue, and contributed an estimated $133.065M in tax proceeds to the state.

While May’s figures dipped month-over-month, June has serious momentum. The Carolina Hurricanes won a thrilling Stanley Cup Finals, UNC is competing in the College World Series and the World Cup is underway in North America. Between local hockey faithful, Tar Heel baseball fans, and the global soccer surge, June has a real chance to cushion the blow of the usual summer slowdown.

North Carolina Mobile Sports Betting History