Two Years In — Monday, May 18, 2026
Two Years In
Two years of legal sports betting in North Carolina. $13.2 billion in handle, $287 million in taxes, a Senate proposal to double the rate, and a prediction-market bill just filed in the House. Where the money goes and where the lobbyists are: two different maps.
Eight Operators, One Tax Question
The Sports Betting Alliance fields the deepest operator-coalition bench in Raleigh. Around it: tribal gaming, retail venues, and the mandated recipients of the tax. Where the money goes and where the lobbyists are: two different maps.
- 01Sports Betting AllianceCoalition10
- 02J&J Ventures GamingGaming7
- 03Boyd GamingGaming5
- 04Delaware NorthTribal operator5
- 05Panthers FootballVenue5
- 06Catawba Indian NationTribal4
- 07DraftKingsOperator4
- 08FanDuelOperator4
- 09Hornets BasketballVenue4
- 10Eastern Band of CherokeeTribal3
Two Years of Sports Betting in North Carolina
Through April 2026, twenty-six months since the launch of legal mobile sports betting.
The Hold Rate That Doubled the Tax Take
Cumulative handle climbed only ten percent from March 2024 to March 2026. Tax revenue doubled in March 2026 alone — because operators got luckier. The volatility is the argument.
Handle Climbs Slowly. Tax Revenue Doesn't.
The handle barely moves year over year. Tax revenue swings on the hold rate. State revenue from sports betting is structurally unstable.
Why March 2026 Tax Revenue Doubled on Six Percent Handle Growth
The launch-month comparison. Handle barely moved. The hold rate did.
- Handle: $659.3M
- Tax revenue: $11.97M
- Handle: $685.0M
- Tax revenue: $6.87M
- Handle: $726.2M
- Tax revenue: $13.67M
Where North Carolina Spends Its Sports-Betting Tax
The current 18% rate produces a mandatory floor allocation and a tiered distribution above it. Through January 2026, the breakdown reads as below — and is the formula the budget fight is now trying to rewrite. (Source: most recent NCDOR breakdown, $250.7M cumulative through January.)
- 01General Fund$111.5M (45%)The remainder pool after every mandated recipient takes its share.›
- 02Major Events Fund$66.9M (27%)$10M target each year; excess revenue flows in above. Powers 2026 commitments to MLS All-Star, NASCAR, NHRA, and more.›
- 03Thirteen UNC schools$56.3M (22%)Collective allocation: $300K floor per school plus 20% of revenue above the $8.4M mandatory layer.›
- 04Recipients (mandatory)$15.97M (6%)DHHS gambling-addiction treatment, NC Amateur Sports, Youth Outdoor Engagement, and NCLC administration.
What Sports-Betting Tax Already Pays For
The Fund supports events that bring revenue and visibility to NC venues. The state's three flagship college stadiums — Carter-Finley, Kenan, and Cameron Indoor — don't qualify under the current eligibility test. That itself is a lobbying argument waiting to happen.
- 01MLS All-Star Game · $2M grantCharlotte. The only 2026 commitment with a publicly disclosed grant amount.
- 02NASCAR Cook Out ClashWinston-Salem.
- 03NASCAR Race the Rock
- 04NHRA NationalsRichmond County.
- 05Biltmore ChampionshipAsheville. PGA Tour FedExCup Fall event.
- 06Soccer Tournament 7v7Cary.
- 07World Cup Soccer SendoffCharlotte.
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The Coalition With a Former Legislator on Its Bench
The Sports Betting Alliance fields ten registered lobbyists at the Capitol — the largest operator-coalition bench in the state. One of them, Jason Saine, authored the 2023 sports-betting authorization while serving in the House. Now he is back in the building, working the other side.
The Operator Bench and the Many-Rooms Lobby
Top tier: four operators plus the Charlotte Hornets — the venue with the densest cross-registered bench in the gaming-adjacent registry. Bottom tier: the lobbyists carrying both sides. Bold lines flag the lobbyists who sit in more than one room.
Who Has Hired the Deepest North Carolina Bench
Number of registered lobbyists per gaming-adjacent principal, May 2026.
- 01Sports Betting Alliance10 lobbyists
- 02J&J Ventures Gaming7 lobbyists
- 03Boyd Gaming Corporation5 lobbyists
- 04DraftKings4 lobbyists
- 05FanDuel Group4 lobbyists
- 06Caesars Enterprise Services2 lobbyists
- 07BetMGM1 lobbyists
- 08bet3651 lobbyists
- 09Underdog Fantasy1 lobbyists
Five Operators. Ten Lobbyists. One Voice.
The Sports Betting Alliance speaks for BetMGM, DraftKings, Fanatics, FanDuel, and bet365 at the Capitol. The roster below is who carries that voice — including Jason Saine, who wrote the 2023 sports-betting authorization while serving in the House.
- 01SBA · also Hornets, J&J, Rush Street
- 02Alicia DavisSBA
- 03John Carry EasterlingSBA · also Hornets, J&J
- 04David P. FerrellSBA · also Lenovo NA
- 05Nelson FreemanSBA · 6 rooms total
- 06Lori Ann HarrisSBA
- 07Charles Franklin McDowellSBA · 5 rooms total
- 08Lu-Ann C. PerrymanSBA · joined 2026-05-04
- 09Clark D. RiemerSBA · also Lenovo NA
- 10Jason SaineSBA
Each Operator's North Carolina Bench
The four operators with direct NC registrations, plus the one lobbyist who represents all four of them simultaneously.
Who Left, Who Arrived, Who Never Registered
The licensed-operator count slipped from eight to seven in December. The Sports Betting Alliance bench grew by two in May. And three of the eight licensed operators — Fanatics, ESPN BET, and Hard Rock BET — never registered an NC lobbyist under those names at all.
- 01→Underdog Sports · EXITED · December 16, 2025Closed its NC sportsbook to focus on prediction markets. Daily fantasy operations continue; Cameron L. Henley remains as the lone Underdog Fantasy NC lobbyist.
- 02→Michelle MacGregor · JOINED · May 8, 2026Same-day double-registration: FanDuel and DraftKings. The second operator-only specialist on the bench after Kathleen Owen.
- 03→Lu-Ann C. Perryman · JOINED · May 4, 2026Added to the Sports Betting Alliance roster. Same day House Bill 1171 was filed.
- 04Fanatics Sportsbook · NOT REGISTEREDNo NC lobbyist registered under the Fanatics name. Lobbying flows through the Sports Betting Alliance.
- 05→ESPN BET (Penn Entertainment) · NOT REGISTEREDNo direct NC registration.
- 06Hard Rock BET · NOT REGISTEREDNo direct NC registration.
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The 36% Question
The Senate would double the rate. The House would keep it and move the money. Both proposals route through Senate Bill 257, the 2025 Appropriations Act, now in conference committee.
Where 36% Would Put North Carolina
At 36%, North Carolina would tie Pennsylvania for the seventh-highest sports-betting tax rate — double its current 18%, but still well below the four states at 51%, Delaware at 50%, and Illinois at 40%.
- 01New Hampshire51 %
- 02New York51 %
- 03Oregon51 %
- 04Rhode Island51 %
- 05Delaware50 %
- 06Illinois40 %
- 07Pennsylvania36 %
- 08NC (proposed · SB 257)36 %
- 09NC (current)18 %
The Senate Fiscal Estimate Behind SB 257
What the Senate's 36% rate would generate, on top of the existing 18% baseline. Per Lapel's reading of the published fiscal note.
The House Keeps 18%, Moves the Money
Rather than raise the rate, the House proposal redistributes the existing tax — adding UNC and NC State to the recipient list, boosting UNC-Charlotte's allocation tenfold, and pulling source funds from the Major Events Fund and General Fund instead of from operators.
- 01UNC-Charlotte's allocation jumps from $1.2 million to $13.2 million — a tenfold increase. The largest single-school bump in the House proposal.
- 02UNC-Chapel Hill and NC State are added to the recipient list — historically excluded from the original allocation formula.
- 03Most other UNC System recipient schools rise into the $3M–$3.7M range, up from $300K floors plus pro-rata excess shares.
- 04Source funds come from the Major Events Fund and General Fund. The 18% operator tax is left untouched — sportsbooks pay nothing extra.
- 05The college lobby reads this fight as bigger than any other slice of state government this year. The actual lobbyist roster behind that read — see Chapter IV.
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Three Rooms — and the One That's Empty
The Cherokee, Catawba, and Lumbee have separate gaming postures. The retail-venue bench is shallower than the brief on the casino fight implied. And the thirteen UNC recipient schools — for whom the House would multiply the funding — have not registered a single direct lobbyist on sports betting.
13 Recipients. 1 Lobbies.
Thirteen UNC System schools receive sports-betting tax money under current law. The House would multiply that allocation. Zero of those schools — including UNC-Charlotte, the standout beneficiary — has registered a single direct sports-betting lobbyist. The only recipient body in the room is NC Amateur Sports.
- 01NC Amateur Sports2 lobbyists · Cooper, Honaker
- 02UNC-Charlotte0 lobbyists · $1.2M → $13.2M in House proposal
- 03NC A&T0 lobbyists
- 04NC Central0 lobbyists
- 05Elizabeth City State0 lobbyists
- 06Fayetteville State0 lobbyists
- 07Winston-Salem State0 lobbyists
- 08Appalachian State0 lobbyists
- 09East Carolina University0 lobbyists
- 10Western Carolina University0 lobbyists
- 11UNC Greensboro0 lobbyists
- 12UNC Wilmington0 lobbyists
- 13UNC Pembroke0 lobbyists
- 14UNC Asheville0 direct (UNC Asheville Foundation has 1, not on sports betting)
Three Tribes, Three Postures, One Lobbying Field
Eastern Band of Cherokee runs the two Harrah's properties with Caesars. Catawba just opened Two Kings Casino, operated by Delaware North with the tribe's own branded sportsbook. Lumbee won federal recognition in December 2025 and is pursuing a casino — pending a constitutional amendment vote on June 23, 2026.
- 01John A. HardinEastern Band of Cherokee
- 02William MorganEastern Band of Cherokee
- 03Sue Ann SwiftEastern Band of Cherokee
- 04Trafton DinwiddieCatawba Indian Nation
- 05Dylan FrickCatawba Indian Nation
- 06Story OliverCatawba Indian Nation
- 07Dylan ReelCatawba · also Delaware North
- 08Nelson FreemanLumbee Tribe Holdings · also SBA, Hornets, J&J, PGA, Rush Street
- 09Charles Franklin McDowellLumbee Tribe Holdings · also SBA, Hornets, J&J, PGA
Four Venues Register. Several Don't.
Eight professional venues plus Lenovo Center are eligible for in-person sportsbooks under current law. Only four of them — Panthers, Hornets, Lenovo NA, and PGA TOUR — have NC lobbyist registrations under those names. The others lobby through other coalitions or not at all.
Operators and Venues: The Shared Bench
Lobbyists registered with at least one operator (or the Sports Betting Alliance) and with at least one of the registered retail venues. These are the people who already sit in both rooms.
- Hampton Michael Billips
- John Carry Easterling
- David P. Ferrell
- Nelson Freeman
- Charles Franklin McDowell
- Clark D. Riemer
- Hampton Michael Billips
- John Carry Easterling
- David P. Ferrell
- Nelson Freeman
- Beth Friedrich
- Canaan Huie
- Charles Franklin McDowell
- Towers Mingledorff
- Walter S. Price
- Clark D. Riemer
- Bradford Lee Sneeden
Who Re-Registered, Who Dropped, Who Just Arrived
The 2023 push to expand commercial casino licensing collapsed publicly. The lobbyists didn't go home — but the cast list shifted. Two years later, here's who still has active NC registrations on casino-adjacent principals, and the new face Lapel didn't see coming.
- 01→The Cordish Companies · 2 lobbyists · STAYEDThe Maryland-based operator that led the 2023 push. Tony Copeland and Drew Moretz remain on the bench.
- 02→Caesars Enterprise Services · 2 lobbyists · PIVOTEDStill active, now anchored by the Harrah's Cherokee partnership rather than commercial-casino expansion.
- 03→Boyd Gaming Corporation · 5 lobbyists · NEWFive Boyd-registered lobbyists in NC — the largest casino bench in the state. Unmentioned in the 2023 fight; the post-2023 dark horse.
- 04→WSI US (Wynn) · DROPPEDNo active NC registration as of May 2026.
- 05→Churchill Downs · DROPPEDNo active NC registration as of May 2026.
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The Prediction-Market Bill, Just Filed
Prediction markets sit outside state gaming regulation. North Carolina just filed a bill to ban them. Two of the five primary sponsors also wrote the college prop-bet ban. There is no registered lobbying on the bill yet — and the operators most exposed to it have not moved.
Five Primary Sponsors. Two Also Wrote the Prop-Bet Ban.
All five primary sponsors of HB 1171 are House Democrats. Two — Pricey Harrison and Marcia Morey — are also primary sponsors of HB 828, the college player prop-bet ban. They are the most-named legislators on gambling-restriction bills this session.
- 01Rep. Pricey Harrison · HB 1171 + HB 828Greensboro Democrat. Bipartisan-bench anchor on the gambling-restriction docket. Primary on both bills.
- 02Rep. Marcia Morey · HB 1171 + HB 828Durham Democrat. Former judge. The other two-bill sponsor.
- 03Rep. Mary Belk Butler · HB 1171 onlyNew voice on the gambling-restriction docket this session.
- 04Rep. Carla Cunningham Cohn · HB 1171 onlyNew voice on the gambling-restriction docket this session.
- 05Rep. Diamond Staton-Williams Logan · HB 1171 onlyNew voice on the gambling-restriction docket this session.
Where Each Operator Stands on Prediction Markets
Three Sports Betting Alliance members are publicly pro-prediction-markets. One is staunchly opposed. The fifth has not spoken. Lapel can map this before the Raleigh fight starts.
- 01Fanatics Sportsbook · LIVEFirst SBA member to launch a prediction-market product. No NC lobbying under the Fanatics name.
- 02→DraftKings · ANNOUNCEDPublic plans to enter prediction markets. Four NC lobbyists; no HB 1171 registration.
- 03→FanDuel · ANNOUNCEDPublic plans to enter prediction markets. Four NC lobbyists; no HB 1171 registration.
- 04→BetMGM · OPPOSEDPublicly opposed to prediction markets. The SBA holdout.
- 05→bet365 · NO POSITIONHas not voiced a public stance on prediction markets.
- 06→Underdog Sports · PIVOTEDClosed NC sportsbook December 2025 to focus on prediction markets via Crypto.com partnership.
Who Just Registered
Three lobbyists took four new gaming-adjacent registrations in the past sixty days. The cadence — and the same-day pairings — are the tea-leaves Lapel can read and the industry trade press cannot.
- 01→Michelle MacGregor · 2026-05-08Same-day double-debut: FanDuel and DraftKings. The second operator-only specialist on the bench, ten days before this edition.
- 02→Lu-Ann C. Perryman · 2026-05-04Sports Betting Alliance. Same day HB 1171 was filed.
- 03→Richard L. Sullivan · 2026-05-04E-Max Gaming Corporation — coin-op and slot-route operator.
Why North Carolina's College Prop-Bet Ban Has National Wind
NCAA President Charlie Baker wrote state gambling commissions on January 15, 2026, calling for the elimination of college player prop bets and high-risk wagers like first-half-unders. He wrote the CFTC one day earlier, asking for suspension of college sports prediction markets.
- 01Twelve states ban college player prop bets outright. Twenty restrict them in some way. North Carolina is one of nineteen states that still allow them without restriction.
- 02Four states have banned college prop bets since 2024: Louisiana, Maryland, Ohio, and Vermont. Kentucky, Minnesota, and Washington have bills moving in 2026.
- 03The ACC is headquartered in Charlotte. That proximity has not yet been formally lobbied, but reads obvious in the bill's positioning.
- 04HB 828 is the NC vehicle for the college prop-bet ban. Filed April 2025, still in House Rules. Same four sponsors: Harrison, Morey, Jackson, Setzer.
- 05A coalition of forty states plus the District of Columbia wrote the CFTC in March 2026 arguing that prediction markets are sports betting by another name and should not bypass state licensing.
Zero Lobbyists Registered Against HB 1171
Four operators have a direct prediction-market stake and the existing NC bench to mobilize on it. Two weeks after HB 1171 was filed, none of them has added a single lobbyist on the bill. That silence is itself a tell.
- 01→DraftKings · 4 NC lobbyists · 0 on HB 1171Announced prediction-market plans. The four-lobbyist NC bench has not added a fifth on the bill.
- 02→FanDuel · 4 NC lobbyists · 0 on HB 1171Same posture as DraftKings.
- 03→Sports Betting Alliance · 10 NC lobbyists · 0 on HB 1171The coalition that speaks for three pro-prediction-market operators has not registered opposition.
- 04→Underdog Fantasy · 1 NC lobbyist · 0 on HB 1171The operator that already pivoted to prediction markets. Lone NC lobbyist Cameron L. Henley unchanged.
- 05→BetMGM · 1 NC lobbyist · 0 on HB 1171The publicly anti-prediction-market operator. No registered support for the bill either.
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About this edition
This analysis is based on the North Carolina Secretary of State lobbyist registry as of the May 11, 2026 daily snapshot, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission monthly handle and tax reports through April 2026, NCDOR cumulative tax allocations through January 2026, and the 2025-2026 session bills HB 828, HB 1171, and SB 257. Lapel Intelligence makes no representation that any individual lobbyist or organization profiled here supports or opposes any specific bill — registrations are simply public records of who is permitted to engage on whose behalf.
Lobbyist registry: NC Secretary of State, daily_snapshot_rows view, snapshot date 2026-05-11.
Handle and tax figures: NC State Lottery Commission monthly reports (March 2024 through April 2026). Cumulative handle of $13.2B+ and tax revenue of $287M+ confirmed against WRAL's "The Gamble" documentary (March 2026) and contemporaneous industry reporting.
Allocation breakdown (Slide 07): Most recent NCDOR breakdown, cumulative through January 2026. Per-statute structure: NC General Statutes § 18C-1031 et seq.
Major Events Fund commitments (Slide 08): North Carolina Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund. 2026 commitment list per NCLC and event-organizer disclosures.
State tax rate comparison (Slide 18): Tax Foundation 2025 online sports betting tax data; state gaming commission filings.
SB 257 fiscal estimate (Slide 19): Per Lapel's reading of the SB 257 fiscal note published by the Senate Appropriations Committee. The $53.4M / $79.8M figures represent additional revenue above the existing 18% baseline.
House counter-proposal (Slide 20): NC House 2025-2026 session conference materials. UNC-Charlotte $1.2M → $13.2M figure confirmed; per-school detail for other schools deferred to the published conference report.
Tribal context (Slide 24): Catawba Nation, Delaware North, and Eastern Band of Cherokee press materials; The Assembly NC coverage of Lumbee federal recognition (December 2025) and the announced June 23, 2026 constitutional amendment vote.
NCAA pressure campaign (Slide 33): NCAA press materials, January 14-15, 2026; CFTC public-comment filings; state gambling commission published rules. Twelve-outright-ban / twenty-restrict / nineteen-unrestricted counts per NCAA inventory cross-referenced with industry trackers.
Cross-registration analysis: Lapel's own daily snapshot. The lobbyist Kathleen Mary Kristen Owen appears in the registry under two name variants ("Kristen Owen, Kathleen Mary" for bet365; "Owen, Kathleen Mary Kristen" for BetMGM / DraftKings / FanDuel). Both spellings resolve to the same lobbyist_id; Lapel treats her as a four-operator cross-registrant.
Lapel could not independently verify several brief-level facts cited internally — including the specific quote attributed to the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance about Carter-Finley, Kenan, and Cameron Indoor stadium eligibility (Slide 08), the Catawba sportsbook partnership claim (corrected here — the tribe operates its own branded sportsbook; Caesars partners with Eastern Band of Cherokee instead), and a reported McConnell Golf / Sedgefield partnership with Underdog Sports prior to Underdog's December 2025 NC sportsbook exit. Each is flagged here for the reader.