North Carolina Sports Betting's First 24 Hours And Sportsbook News Around The Country

Written By Giovanni Shorter | Published at March 13, 2024

North Carolina sports betting launched this week and saw a lot of action out of the gate. Meanwhile, the Arizona Department of Gaming released January's sports betting handle. Down in Georgia, sports betting conversations begin to heat up. Let's break down all the recent sports betting news and events in the industry.

North Carolina Early Success

When sports betting went live in North Carolina on Monday, better flocked to wager on local NC collegiate basketball teams. The first wager placed at North Carolina Sportsbooks was $100 on the University of North Carolina +1800 to win the March Madness Tournament. This was wagered at BetMGM.

Within the first 24 hours, nearly 50% of all wagers at BetMGM were placed on UNC to win the tournament. Another 10% was wagered on the University of Connecticut, and another 8% was placed on the University of Houston.

There were also bettors placing early action on the NFL, with 14% of wagers going to the Steelers winning the Super Bowl. Home team Carolina Panthers are seeing 8.3% of all wagers, according to BetMGM.

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Arizona Massive January Handle

Thanks to the NFL postseason, Arizona sportsbooks saw a major boom in betting activity for January 2024. According to the report, sportsbooks saw a combined $706,382,861.40 in betting handle for January. This marks the second-highest betting handle since the market launched.

The increase is a major boom compared to last year, when $591 million was wagered on sports. The only monthly handle to see more activity in Arizona was the $713.5 million wagered in November 2023. Sportsbooks saw $69,344,219.31 in adjusted gross revenue for the month. Of that total, the state collected $4,610,005.29 in privilege fees.

Georgia Sports Betting Hopes Still Alive

The Georgia House Higher Education Committee met Tuesday and discussed SB 386, a potential sports betting bill. No vote was placed on the measure. SB 386 and accompanying bill SR 579 would allow for online sports betting via a constitutional amendment requiring a state vote. Lawmakers would like the measure placed on the November 2024 ballot.

While no action was taken regarding the measures, the renewed discussion does show there is renewed interest in the measure. The Georgia legislative session ends on March 28, so now is the time for lawmakers to iron out the details if they want this measure to be a success.

Time will tell if Georgia will finally be able to bring sports betting to its residents with this bill.