Registration For Mobile Sports Betting Is Underway In North Carolina With 8 Operators

Beginning on Friday, March 1, people in North Carolina can get ready for the start of mobile sports betting. The state has issued licenses to eight operators, allowing bettors to register their sports betting accounts. Registration began at noon ET.

This lets bettors who are at least 21 years old have their accounts ready, with money deposited, for the March 11 launch of legal mobile wagering in North Carolina. 

On Thursday, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission issued the first interactive sports wagering operator licenses to seven companies in advance of the March 11 go-live date. An eighth operator was named later in the day.

The eight apps receiving licenses are:

• FanDuel 
• BetMGM 
• DraftKings
• Fanatics 
• bet365
• ESPN BET
• Underdog Sports Wagering 
• Tribal Casino Gaming Enterprise, an enterprise of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (Caesars Sportsbook)

"North Carolinians can begin preparing for the first day of sports betting by registering with one of the companies, setting up accounts, and making deposits as of noon on Friday, March 1," the commission said in a news release.

The Caesars mobile app is available right way to wager on games, if the user is at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort in Cherokee, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Hotel in Murphy and on surrounding Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians tribal lands. The app will be available for use statewide on March 11.

ACC, March Madness Tournament Schedules 

Starting at noon ET on March 11, people can use mobile devices to wager on college and pro sports in the state and on horse races. In-person sports betting at commercial brick-and-mortar sites will begin after that at an as-yet undetermined date.

Mobile sports betting is beginning in North Carolina in time for the March 12 start of the Atlantic Coast Conference basketball tournament in Washington, D.C., and for the March Madness tournament that tips off several days later at arenas around the country.

North Carolina is home to one of the most intense NCAA basketball rivalries in the nation, pitting the Duke Blue Devils against the North Carolina Tar Heels. Both are in the Top 10 in the Associated Press and USA Today rankings.

Below are key dates: 

March 12-16: ACC Men’s basketball tournament at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

NCAA Men’s March Madness basketball tournament

March 17: Selection Sunday

March 19-20: First four

March 21-22: First round

March 28-29: Sweet 16

March 30-31: Elite Eight 

April 6: Final Four in Glendale, Arizona

April 8: NCAA championship game in Glendale, Arizona.

Currently, in-person sports betting is legal at the state’s three tribal casinos: Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino and Catawba Two Kings Casino.