After a disappointing December, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission reported a strong bounceback in sports betting revenue for January 2025.
December 2024 saw the Tar Heel State record the lowest hold of the financial year, with consumer-friendly sporting results leaving operators with just 5.67 percent hold for the month. This article calculates hold using the state’s gross wagering revenue as a percentage of total wagering revenue.
January recovered strongly, however, with hold rebounding to 11.52 percent. This was the primary driver in the seeming ‘recovery’ from the end of last year.
Promotional wagering revenue increased 44.4 percent month-over-month, implying sportsbooks in the state were ramping up advertising spend and giving away more in promotional credit than prior. This is likely affiliated with the lead-up to Super Bowl LIX, one of the United States’ most significant sporting events.
The stark increase in promotional wagering revenue was also supplemented by a 1.66 percent rise from December to January in ‘paid wagering revenue,’ meaning cash bets placed by state residents. The combination of the two gave a 2.77 percent monthly increase in total wagers, seeing $646.9 million placed in January 2025, up from $629.5 million in December 2024.
Profit for sportsbook operators in North Carolina primarily came from favorable sporting results, thus achieving the previously outlined hold increase. In December 2024, despite taking nearly $20 million less in total wagers, companies paid out almost $22 million in prizes.
The combination of the two led to just $35.7 million in gross wagering revenue, the second-lowest month in the financial year. However, it was comfortably the worst performing month for operators, as the only month with lower revenue generated was August, which saw approximately $260 million less wagered but just $2 million less in revenue.
As a result of the above, gross wagering revenue recorded a 108.66 percent increase month over month, with operators making $74.5 million in January 2025, bringing the state back in line with more typical performance trends.
North Carolina: A Sports Betting History
Online sports betting launched in North Carolina in March 2024. The legislation permits eleven professional sports organizations and venues across the Tar Heel state to partner with online sports betting companies to offer mobile wagering.
Conforming to the general trend across the United States, the legal betting age in the Tar Heel State is 21. Rep. Marcia Morey filed H 967 in May 2024 to ban proposition betting on college or amateur sports, but the bill died in the House Committee on Rules, Calendar, and Operations.
Other notable rules in the state include an 18 percent tax rate on gross wagering revenue and the legality of daily fantasy sports as a betting medium. Currently, there are no plans for online casino expansion in the state.
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