Sportsbooks react against North Carolina tax rise

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Sports betting companies are pushing back against North Carolina’s recent budget proposal to raise the tax paid on revenue from 8% to 36%.

The proposal passed the Senate on 17 April, although the House has yet to publish its version. In the interim, the sports betting industry is lining up to oppose the tax rise.

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Trade organization the Sports Betting Alliance, which represents several sportsbooks, including DraftKings, FanDuel, and BetMGM, has said that the tax rise would mean poorer odds and access to fewer bonuses, and that it may encourage bettors to go to illegal sites.

In a statement on its website, the Sports Betting Alliance urged bettors to write to lawmakers, saying, “We need sports fans like you to stand up and tell your state lawmakers to protect legal sports betting in North Carolina.”

Sports betting was legalized in North Carolina in 2023. Since the sector launched officially in March 2024, the state’s eight sportsbook operators have paid over US$143.7 million in taxes, out of an estimated US$78 billion in sports wagers. 

If the tax rise goes ahead, North Carolina will have the joint-fifth highest sports betting tax in the US, level with Pennsylvania and behind only New York, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Illinois, which increased its rate from 15% to 40% this year.

Currently, North Carolina’s 18% rate places it eleventh among the 38 states with legal sports betting.

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2025/04/15: North Carolina proposes doubling online sports betting tax 2025/02/06: North Carolina bettors to wager on Super Bowl for the first time 2025/03/12: North Carolina State Lottery Commission releases report to mark one year of online sports betting 2025/02/27: New Jersey tax proposal draws analysis and ire