(The Center Square) – North Carolina far exceeded its projected revenues of $64 million in its first year of legal gaming, bringing in $116 million, a Georgia House committee studying the legalization of sports gaming in Georgia was told Monday.
Former North Carolina Rep. Jason Saine touted the benefits legalized sports betting brought to his state without significant repercussions. He authored the bill that passed 2023, a year after legalized gaming was defeated in the North Carolina House by one vote.
The state imposed an 18% tax on the gross wagering revenue, according to the bill. An interactive sports wagering license costs operators a $1 million registration fee.
Tarheel State lawmakers agreed to a bill that designated $1 million of proceeds for amateur sports facilities, $1 million to North Carolina Youth Outdoor Engagement Commission and up to $300,000 annually for athletics at each 13 higher education institutions, he said.
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The state’s general fund gets 50% of the revenues and a fund has been created to attract major events like the Super Bowl to North Carolina.
“We may have more money in that fund than we need,” Saine said.
The road to possible legalized gaming in Georgia will take a different path than that of its neighbor. North Carolina passed a statute and included pari-mutuel horse racing that hasn’t taken off yet, according to Saine.
Georgia lawmakers have proposed in recent years to allow voters to decide through a constitutional referendum. But it has yet to receive enough votes to pass.
The idea of legalized gaming of any kind has its detractors. At the committee’s last meeting, Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, told the committee, “It’s intellectually dishonest to talk about the benefits of gambling without talking about the detriments.”
North Carolina lawmakers included $2 million for gambling addiction but have not had issues, according to Saine.
“The North Carolina case is just a great example of one, how to do it and two, for the naysayers, we are literally living proof that they’re wrong. We haven’t seen problem gambling. We’ve taken the illegal market and made it null and void,” Saine said.
Saine encouraged the panel to act soon on gaming. Tennessee has legalized sports betting and South Carolina is considering it.
North Carolina lawmakers did not experience any political fallout from the vote on gaming, Saine said.
“Zero election losses,” said Saine, a Republican. “None of the people who supported sports betting who voted for it or are on the bills as sponsors lost their primary or their general election.”
The meeting is the second one for the Georgia committee and includes presentations from other states that have legalized some form of gaming.
