North Carolina Legalizes Sports Betting as Governor Signs Bill Into Law

The bill allowing sports betting and horse racing has advanced to North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper’s desk, who has signed Senate Bill 154 into law, making sports betting legal in this state.

The sportsbook and horserace betting will be allowed inside two tribal-owned casinos in this state. The bill, introduced during the 2019 legislative session, was conceived and presented by Republican state senator, Jim Davis.

A Wide Margin in Both Cases

Specifically, the text of the bill-turned-law states that “placing of wagers on the outcome of professional and collegiate sports contests will be allowed on Indian lands within the State lawfully permitted to conduct Class III gaming activities.”

It is imperative that the wager is initiated and received on the grounds of an eligible casino, which means that no off-premises mobile wagering is allowed, at least for now.

The bill stalled at the North Carolina House committee from April to July, despite ing by a wide margin in the Senate (43-7). The lucky circumstance was that House legislative session was extended beyond July 1st (when it typically ends), which gave enough time for the bill to the 90-27 margin.

The Two Venues

It is the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians that operates the two casinos in which sports betting will be allowed…

…one is Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort– a 140,000 square foot venue founded in 1997 after former Governor, Jim Hunt, signed the tribal gaming legislation. This is the larger casino of the two, with the other being Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel opened in 2015, with 60,000 square feet of gaming space.

Both casinos are located in the Appalachian mountains. They are 164 and 222 miles away from Charlotte, the largest city in North Carolina.

Expanded Gambling in the Making?

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians share casinos’ profit among its 16,000 …

…which came to around $12,000 per member in 2016.

Recently, another bill was ed by both House and Senate – the Senate Bill 574. It looks to establish the North Carolina Gaming Commission as a regulator. The bill is, at the moment, at a conference committee stage where it will be the subject of two amendments.

In case it gets signed into law, one of the new regulator’s first duties would be conducting a study to see how feasible expanded wagering in the state would be.

An Off-Reservation Casino Proposal Controversy

Opposition if forming rapidly against the bill S 790 that wishes to introduce an off-reservation casino in NC that would be built by Catawba Indian Nation.

However, this is not in line with state gambling laws that do not allow for casinos to operate outside Indian reservations. The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act clearly states that:

“the Department of the Interior must engage in extensive consultations with local, state, and tribal governments for economic, environmental and infrastructure impact assessments.”

Principal chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Richard Sneed, said that this bill would create a harmful precedent, the first time Congress has expressly authorized an Indian tribe to acquire land into trust simply for owning and operating an off-reservation casino.

Source:

“Governor signs NC sporrs betting bill into law”, igbnorthamerica.com, July 29, 2019.