North Carolina has moved closer to legalizing sports betting after a bill proposing it was approved by the state Senate.
House Bill 347 was introduced for consideration on March 13, then passed by the North Carolina House of Representatives on March 30, and subsequently transferred to the Senate, where it underwent a second reading last week.
If the bill is approved, it will allow sports and horse race betting in North Carolina.
According to the bill, the North Carolina Gaming Commission will issue a maximum of 12 licenses for sports betting. These licenses will cover professional sports, collegiate sports, esports, amateur sports, and any other sporting event approved by the commission.
The application fee for a betting license will be $1 million, which will be refunded minus 5% if the application is successful. A licensing fee of $50,000 is required for service provider licenses, while a fee of $30,000 will be charged for sports betting operator licenses.
All licenses will be valid for 5 years.
Sports betting is legalized in 36 out of 50 states in the United States.
