Online Casinos in North Carolina

North Carolina expanded its legal gambling market in the past three years, but online casinos were left out. Gov. Roy Cooper signed HB 347 (Session Law 2023-42) on June 14, 2023, authorizing online sports and horse race wagering under the NC State Lottery Commission and capping the market at 12 interactive operator licenses with an 18% tax on adjusted gross revenue. Mobile sportsbooks went live at noon ET on March 11, 2024, and eight operators run there today: FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, ESPN BET, Fanatics, bet365, Underdog, and the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians' Caesars-branded book. The NC Education Lottery launched its own Digital Instants and full online ticket play on February 22, 2024. None of this touches online slots or table games.

A 2023 push to authorize three commercial casinos and online slots collapsed when Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore pulled the casino language from the state budget after public pushback in Rockingham, Anson, and Nash counties. Rep. Jason Saine, the architect of HB 347 and the legislature's loudest iGaming voice, resigned in August 2024 and left the issue without a sponsor. No online casino bill has been filed in the 2025-2026 session as of May 2026. Online poker remains a Class 2 misdemeanor under N.C.G.S. § 14-292, and the state's ban on storefront sweepstakes machines, N.C.G.S. § 14-306.4, was upheld by the NC Supreme Court in Hest Technologies (2012) and Gift Surplus (2022). That statute does not reach dual-currency online sweeps sites, which remain accessible.