In this week’s sports betting news, North Carolina has finally announced a launch date for mobile sports betting, and it’s going to make college basketball junkies very happy. Underdog Sports is jumping into the fray in the Tar Heel state while also getting approved in Ohio.
Elsewhere, Missouri is itching to get into the sports betting tax revenue business, and one group is starting a campaign to get it out of lawmakers’ hands and onto the ballot for the people to decide.
FanDuel, meanwhile, hits the New York Stock Exchange on Monday as DraftKings stock soars and Netflix’s partnership with the WWE is another move to prepare sports fans for the move of live sports to streaming services.
Sports Betting News: North Carolina Announces Mobile Betting Date; Underdog Sports Finds Partner; DraftKings Stock Enjoys Gains
Mobile sports betting will be in North Carolina for the start of the NCAA Tournament. The North Carolina State Lottery Commission made the announcement Wednesday, marking March 11 as the official start date.
North Carolina legalized online sports betting after Governor Roy Cooper signed HB 347 into law in June 2023. Sports betting has only been allowed in person at three casinos in the Tar Heel state up to this point.
Nine sportsbook operators have applied for licenses in the state and have partnered with local sports teams and sporting event hosts, as required. The lottery commission expects to approve these licenses by March 1. At that point, the sportsbooks can then begin signing up legal users. The first mobile wagers will be accepted at 12 pm March 11.
“The plan approved today means that North Carolinians will be able to place bets on their favorite teams in many of this year’s college basketball conference tournaments, including men’s tournaments in the ACC, Conference USA, the MEAC, and the AAC, as well as throughout the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments,” said Ripley Rand, chair of the commission.
“Bets on sporting events have been made for as long as those events have taken place, but this time they will be legal, they will be done securely and fairly, and they will be made under rules designed to encourage responsible gaming.”
The ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament begins on March 12. The men’s NCAA Tournament begins March 19.
Underdog Sports Announces North Carolina Partnership
The ninth and final approved sportsbook operator to apply for a license in North Carolina has found its partner. Underdog Sports announced a partnership with McConnell Golf as part of its application for a sports betting license.
Sedgefield Country Club is a private club located in Greensboro and hosts of the PGA TOUR’s Wyndham Championship. It appointed Underdog to host, manage, operate and support the Underdog branded online gambling services in the state. McConnell Golf, through its ownership, operates Sedgefield Country Club.
“Underdog is thrilled to launch our betting games in North Carolina in partnership with McConnell Golf,” said Jeremy Levine, founder and co-CEO of Underdog Sports.
“We’ve spent the last four years building our own technology so we can give sports fans in America new and different ways to enjoy the sports they love. We’re excited to be able to offer that to North Carolinians and look forward to evolving the experience with them.”
Underdog was approved to operate in Ohio recently, and more information on that deal can be found here.
Missouri Making Another Push For Sports Betting
A coalition called “Winning for Missouri” has launched an effort to collect enough signatures to get a sports betting initiative out of the hands of lawmakers and into the hands of the people in Missouri.
The coalition kicked off thanks to donations from FanDuel and DraftKings totaling $2 million. A total of 170,000 signatures are needed by early May to allow a sports betting legalization question to be put on the November ballot. That would remove the issue from lawmakers’ hands and put it in the hands of the voters.
According to an article in stltoday.com, all of the state’s major league sports teams favor of allowing sports betting.
“The fans are very vocal about wanting this,” said Salvatore Panettiere, a Kansas City Royals representative, according to the article.
Missouri expects to levy a 10% tax on betting to raise over $35 million for education.
FanDuel Set For NYSE; DraftKings Stock Soars
FanDuel, under parent company Flutter, expects to go public on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday, January 29. It’s unclear what the IPO will be at open. As a comparison, its biggest competitor, DraftKings, currently trades at over $35 per share.
DraftKings’ stock grew 200 percent in 2023 and has been strong so far in 2024 on the NASDAQ. Many analysts are calling the stock a buy, and many Wall Street TV talking heads agree.
“If you don’t already own DraftKings, you should consider adding a position, especially for the next couple weeks as seemingly the whole country is watching the NFL,” CNBC’s Jim Cramer recently said.
Analysts have not yet weighed in on FanDuel’s expected opening. Both DraftKings and FanDuel claim to have the largest share of the U.S. sports gambler. Each sportsbook is popular in almost every state where mobile sports betting is legal.
Netflix Enters The WWE Ring
Netflix and TKO, the parent company of WWE, entered into a 10-year, $5-billion deal to broadcast WWE Raw. The deal starts in 2025 and expects to lead to more live sports content on the streaming service. In the near term, it leads to produced WWE content on the platform and maybe even more users.
While this announcement lacks sports betting news, it’s another step in preparing sports fans for the eventual move to streaming. Amazon Prime with Thursday Night Football, Apple TV with MLS, and Peacock, which exclusively broadcasted a Wild Card road NFL playoff game, have all seen success broadcasting live sporting events.
