How to get a gambling licence in North Carolina

The North Carolina State Lottery Commission, a nine-member body that also runs the State lottery, regulates sports wagering. Its Regulated Gaming Division staffs the work, and the Commission has delegated the decision to grant or deny a licence to its Director. The Department of Revenue collects and audits the tax.

• There is no separate advertising regulator. G.S. 18C-910(e) sets the content tests, 24 NCAC 06A .0901 to .0909 add the rules, and the Commission enforces them.
• There is no separate gambling AML authority. The Commission requires each operator to run anti-money-laundering procedures and to comply with the federal Bank Secrecy Act.
• One operator licence covers all sports wagering on the events and wager types the Commission posts in its catalogue. There is no licence per product.
• As of 7 November 2026 the Commission's register lists seven operators, four service providers and 28 suppliers.
• Alcohol Law Enforcement is the lead State agency for the gambling laws. Offering sports wagering without a licence is a Class 2 misdemeanour.

Laws that apply

• North Carolina General Statutes, Chapter 18C, Article 9 (Sports Wagering, ss. 18C-901 to 18C-928), with Article 10 (Pari-Mutuel Wagering) and the State Lottery Act
• 24 NCAC 06A (General Wagering) and 24 NCAC 06B (Sports Wagering), the Commission's rules, published as the Rules Manual adopted 18 December 2024 and effective 17 January 2025
• G.S. Chapter 105, Article 2E (tax on interactive sports wagering operators), as amended by S.L. 2026-41 s. 44.7
• S.L. 2026-31 (revenue laws), which rewrote the definition of gross wagering revenue and requires State income tax withholding on winnings from 1 January 2027
• G.S. Chapter 14, Article 37 (Lotteries, Gaming, Bingo and Raffles), the general offences, including G.S. 14-292 and the sweepstakes machine ban in G.S. 14-306.4
• GLI-33 Standards for Event Wagering Systems, version 1.1, incorporated by 24 NCAC 06B .0102

North Carolina licenses three kinds of business for sports wagering: operators, service providers and suppliers. Every licence runs five years except a provisional supplier licence, and none has a numeric cap.

• No numeric cap on operator licences. The first law provided for no more than 12 operators, and S.L. 2023-134 s. 11.18(d) repealed that limit with effect from 8 January 2024. No cap is set on service providers or suppliers.
• The practical limit is the designation agreement: each team, facility owner or governing body may sign with only one operator (G.S. 18C-905(b)).
• As of 7 November 2026 there are seven operator licences on the register. Eight were issued by 29 February 2024, and Underdog Sports Wagering stopped taking wagers on 16 December 2025.
• An operator licence expires on the earlier of five years or the end of its designation agreement, and the operator must then wind up and pay refunds to players.
• One operator licence is tied to the sports wagering brand named in the application. The statute does not say whether a second brand needs a new application, and the law does not count or limit domains.
• A licence may not be assigned or transferred without the Commission's approval and payment of the licensing fee again.
• An operator licence deems its holder also a service provider and supplier for services it provides in-house.

No North Carolina entity, office, director or minimum share capital is required. What an operator must have is a written designation agreement, and what decides every application is the character and honesty of the applicant and its key persons, proved by clear and convincing evidence.

• An operator applicant needs a written agreement with a professional sports team, the owner or operator of a motorsports facility or of a facility that hosts a professional golf tournament annually, or a sports governing body that annually sanctions more than one NASCAR national touring race in the State or more than one professional golf tournament (G.S. 18C-905(a)).
• Nothing limits applicants by nationality or seat, and the register lists licensees with Gibraltar and Malta in their names. An applicant that lived outside the United States in the past 10 years faces an international criminal history check.
• A licence held in another US state, territory or the District of Columbia whose requirements are substantially equivalent or higher may be accepted with or without further examination. A licence from outside the United States does not qualify for this route.
• No statute or rule requires a North Carolina entity, branch or office. The applicant must name a registered agent in the State, and all servers necessary to place or settle a wager, other than back-up servers, must be in North Carolina.
• No minimum share capital is set. The financial safeguard is a reserve of at least $500,000 held at an FDIC-insured institution authorised to transact business in North Carolina (section 5).
• A key person is an officer or director directly involved in operating or controlling sports wagering, anyone with 10% or more equity, and the board-appointed CEO and CFO. Each files a personal disclosure form and a background check. Changes must be reported no later than five days after.
• A licence is refused for a felony or any gambling offence within 10 years before the application, and the rule adds offences of moral turpitude, obstruction of justice, dishonesty or breach of trust. Other grounds include a false statement, a licence revoked or denied elsewhere, a default on a debt owed to the State, and the end of the designation agreement.

The applicant files a request form on ncgaming.gov, the Commission sends the application, and the complete package goes up in one upload. The Commission must issue a licence to a qualified applicant within 60 days of a completed application.

• Two steps. The applicant files the request form for the licence type, and the Commission then sends the application. The complete application, every attachment and all key-person disclosures are uploaded together to the Commission's secure ShareBase portal as searchable PDF files. Enquiries go to [email protected].
• Piecemeal submission is not accepted. An application with any part missing is administratively deficient, and may be denied if the deficiency is not cured within 10 days of the notice. The application is sworn under penalty of perjury.
• The fee is paid by wire transfer on filing. Background checks are ordered through the Commission's vendor, and the applicant and each key person consent to a fingerprint criminal history check.
• There is no fixed window. The Director may set a deadline per licence type or take rolling applications, and as of 7 November 2026 the Commission's pages show request forms for all three licence types with no posted deadline.
• The operator application has 11 sections: the designation agreement, addresses, formation documents, organisation charts and key persons, business description and brand, licensing history, player protection and security plans, financial information, criminal and litigation history, and a statement of truth.
• A business plan is required in the form of that application, including the types of sports wagering proposed, age and identity and geolocation measures, internal controls and the proposed brand. No financial projections are required.
• The 60-day review period begins with the Director's positive determination that the application is sufficient, and may be extended 30 days if the background investigation is outstanding. A request for more information must be answered within 10 days.
• The Director may hold consultation meetings, but staff give no advisory opinions and cannot pre-approve the scope of key-person disclosures.
• A denial is in writing. The applicant may ask the Director to reconsider within 15 days, appeal to the Sports Betting Committee within 15 days (the Committee decides within 90 days of receiving the record), and then seek judicial review in Wake County Superior Court.

The licence fee is $1,000,000 for an operator, paid on application and again on renewal every five years. There is no separate issuance fee and no annual licence fee. The operator also holds a player-funds reserve and may need a tax bond.

• If an application is denied, the fee is refunded less 5% to cover the Commission's review costs, released after the reconsideration period ends.
• No annual licence fee exists, so there is no minimum annual fee. The $1,000,000 fee recurs every five years, which averages $200,000 a year as arithmetic and not as a charge.
• No fee is set per product, brand or domain. A transfer needs approval and payment of the licensing fee again.
• The reserve must be at least the greater of $500,000 or the sum of cashable player balances, pending withdrawals, unsettled wagers, unpaid winning wagers and the average monthly tax due. It may be a bond, letter of credit, payment processor reserves and receivables, segregated cash or a guaranty letter, and the Director may audit it at any time.
• The Secretary of Revenue may require a tax bond or irrevocable letter of credit of two times the expected monthly tax, not less than $50,000 and not more than $2,000,000. No guarantee is required to obtain a licence.
• The operator pays for laboratory testing and certification, initially and annually, and for background checks. Internal controls must be independently audited at least every two years. No amounts are published.
• There is no operator supervision fee and no responsible gambling levy. The State pays $2,000,000 a year from tax proceeds to the Department of Health and Human Services for gambling addiction education and treatment.

North Carolina taxes an operator's gross wagering revenue at 23% for revenue received on or after 7 July 2026, and at 18% before. The return is monthly. Winnings are taxed as income, and there is no value-added tax.

• Gross wagering revenue is the amounts received from sports wagers less the amounts paid as winnings, before any deduction for expenses, fees or taxes. It includes the cash value of bonuses or promotional credits when returned to the operator as a deposit or sports wager (S.L. 2026-31 s. 4.10).
• Promotional credits are therefore not deductible once used. Only amounts paid as winnings are deducted. No jackpot deduction arises.
• Amounts are reported for the month the operator received them, not when the wager settles. A negative month may be carried to the next return, but not more than 12 months after the month it was due.
• The act, S.L. 2026-41, was approved on 7 July 2026. The Department of Revenue's notice of 24 July 2026 gives 1 July 2026 as the effective date, and the act governs. The codified Article 2E text on the General Assembly's site still printed 18% on 7 November 2026.
• The return is due monthly, by the 20th day of the month after the month covered, on Form S-W-101, even if there was no activity. Payment is by electronic funds transfer where the average required payment is at least $20,000 a month.
• There is no minimum fixed gambling tax and no advertising or sponsorship tax. Service providers and suppliers do not pay the sports wagering tax.
• The proceeds are distributed by G.S. 105-113.128, including up to $30,000,000 a year to the Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund from 1 July 2026.
• Corporate income tax on a C corporation is 2.25% for taxable years beginning in 2025 and 2% in 2026. The federal rate is 21 percent. North Carolina has no value-added tax; the sales and use tax has a general State rate of 4.75% plus local rates and does not reach sports wager receipts.
• Players: winnings are income. The State rate is 4.25% for taxable years beginning in 2025, 3.99% in 2026 and 3.49% in 2027 to 2029. From 1 January 2027 operators withhold State tax on winnings when federal withholding applies, and since S.L. 2026-41 an itemising individual may deduct wagering losses allowed under section 165(d) of the Code, for taxable years beginning on or after 1 January 2025.

North Carolina licenses no game provider as such, because it permits only sports wagering. A business that creates markets or settles outcomes holds a service provider licence, and a business that supplies the components holds a supplier licence.

• The supplier application should be completed only after the business has a relationship with a licensed North Carolina operator. A supplier needs the licence before it supplies an operator or service provider.
• A service provider or supplier licence from another US state, territory or the District of Columbia with substantially equivalent requirements may be accepted. No North Carolina law recognises a foreign licence.
• As of 7 November 2026 the register prints four service providers and 28 suppliers, by name and licence number only. It does not say which service a supplier provides.
• No local entity, representative or office is required of a supplier, and the law has no white-label licence class. An operator that uses a turnkey platform stays responsible for it.
• The platform is tested by an independent laboratory against GLI-33 version 1.1 before wagers are taken, and annually. The Commission approved Gaming Laboratories International and BMM Testlabs on 10 January 2024. An accepted certificate from another US jurisdiction still needs geolocation field testing before launch and certification within 90 days of starting.
• There is no individual game approval. The Commission approves categories of sporting event and wager type in its Sports Wagering Catalog, and a new category needs the Director's approval on petition, decided within 14 days.
• Geolocation is required. The operator checks location before the first wager after login and after a change of IP address, and rechecks at least every 20 minutes for a static connection, or every five minutes within 1 mile of the border. The geolocation service is reviewed at least every 90 days.
• Servers directly related to placing or settling a wager, other than back-up servers, must be in North Carolina unless the Director approves otherwise in writing. The statute does not preclude cloud hosting or back-up servers outside the State, and the Director may approve cloud hosting of duplicate or non-transactional data. No local domain is required.
• The operator gives the Director real-time access to geofence data and a daily summary of sports wagering activity. An integrity and security assessment is due within 90 days of starting and annually, and network vulnerability scans run at least quarterly.
• No minimum or maximum return applies, and the Commission sets no maximum stake or winning. Wagering data must be kept at least five years.

The minimum age is 21. Identity is verified before a player can deposit, withdraw or bet, credit cards are permitted, and one statewide voluntary exclusion list binds every operator.

• To open an account the operator collects the player's full legal name, date of birth, principal residential address (not a post office box), and the Social Security number or its last four digits, or an equivalent government identification number for a noncitizen. The account must be in the name of a natural person.
• Age and identity are verified when the account is opened, and a match on last name, date of birth and government identification number is required before the player may deposit, withdraw or wager. Methods include secure online databases or government photo identification, plus one further check.
• Approved funding methods include cash, credit and debit cards, electronic transfers including ACH, prepaid access instruments verified as the player's own, and winnings. Wagers or deposits derived from credit extended by an operator's affiliates or agents are prohibited. Cryptocurrency is a cash equivalent in the statute and is accepted only converted to cash.
• A withdrawal must be honoured within five days of the request, unless the operator believes in good faith that the player engaged in fraud or other conduct in breach of the Act.
• Player funds are protected by the reserve rather than by a required segregated account. The Commission's rules allow cash segregated from operational funds as one form of reserve.
• The Voluntary Exclusion Program lets a person choose one year, three years, five years or lifetime, and a single enrolment goes to every licensed operator. Operators retrieve the list at least every 72 hours.
• Operators must let players set deposit and wager limits on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, and a self-block of at least 72 hours. These tools must be offered, and are not mandatory for the player. No rule requires reality checks or a session-time display.
• Help information must be readily accessible, and every advertisement carries a link to and phone number for the North Carolina Problem Gambling Helpline, 1-877-718-5543. The operator must prominently display its Commission licence on its websites and apps.
• An operator must respond to a dispute in writing within 10 days. A player who is not satisfied may complain to the Commission, which will not act as mediator or order repayment. No independent ADR provider is required.
• The responsible gaming plan, which includes employee training and procedures to identify players with suspected problem gambling, is submitted at least 30 days before operations and approved by the Director.

Licensed operators may advertise under the statutory conditions in G.S. 18C-910(e) and the rules in 24 NCAC 06A .0901 to .0909, enforced by the Commission. No advertisement needs approval in advance.

• The conditions: do not target people under 21, disclose the operator's identity, give information about or links to gambling addiction and prevention resources, and do not mislead a reasonable person. Every advertisement states that players must be 21 or older and carries the helpline link and number, except static advertising such as a logo with no further inducement to wager.
• Television, radio, outdoor, online and social media advertising are all allowed, with no watershed. Advertising may not be placed at events aimed at under-21s or where 25% or more of the audience is reasonably expected to be under 21, in media used primarily by under-21s, at schools, or on a college campus.
• Advertising may not depict under-21s, college students or college settings, other than live footage of professional athletes who may be under 21 in permitted events, and may not state or imply endorsement by a college. Celebrity endorsements that appeal primarily to under-21s are prohibited.
• Welcome offers and free bets may be advertised if the material conditions are disclosed clearly and conspicuously. A new-player offer may not delay redemption beyond 30 days or require the account to be kept for more than 30 days, and winnings earned once the terms are met may not be limited. The Commission sets no cap on wagering requirements.
• A promotion may be called free only if it is free of cost to the player, and risk-free only if the player need not risk their own money to use it or withdraw winnings from it.
• Direct marketing must carry an opt-out, honoured as soon as practicable and within 10 days, and nothing may be sent to a person in the Voluntary Exclusion Program.
• Influencers and affiliates are allowed. Social media posts made for an operator must disclose the business relationship. An affiliate that only advertises needs no licence, and the operator answers for its content and keeps its records for two years.
• The operator may sponsor sports. A logo on uniforms or inside stadiums is not prohibited, within the audience limits above, and a sports facility owner may advertise a place of public accommodation.
• The Commission may suspend or revoke a licence and impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per violation, after at least 15 days' notice and a hearing.

Operators file tax monthly, a summary of activity daily, and commission an annual audit and an annual security assessment. Violations and legal events are reported to the Director within 72 hours.

• AML: the internal controls must keep the operator in full compliance with the federal Bank Secrecy Act and keep currency transaction and suspicious activity reports five years. The AML policy names a responsible individual, with no local reporting officer required, and uses automated systems.
• Suspicious or illegal wagering activity, including indicators of money laundering, is reported to the Director as soon as practicable and in no event later than 72 hours after discovery. The operator must also run an integrity monitoring system and report abnormal betting to the relevant sports governing body.
• A change of key person is reported no later than five days after. A transfer of the licence needs the Director's approval, and an unauthorised transfer voids it. A change of platform needs approval through change management, and a change of domain does not.
• Records are kept at least five years, and wager-level data for three years after the sporting event under the statute, five under the rules. The Director must be told 60 days before records are destroyed.
• The register, the Commission's Approved Licensees page, is one page with no search of its own. It prints operators with their brand, licence number, email and phone, and service providers and suppliers by name and licence number only. It shows no suspended or revoked licences.
• The Commission may fine up to $10,000 per violation after notice and a hearing. As of 7 November 2026 no fine, consent agreement or disciplinary order against a licensee is published.

The route most online entrants take: an interactive sports wagering operator licence, applied for once a designation agreement is signed, with the service provider and supplier route below.

1. 01

   Choose your route

   G.S. 18C-904 · 18C-906 · 18C-907

   Decide whether you will hold an operator licence yourself or serve operators as a service provider or supplier. Online casino and poker have no licence.

2. 02

   Secure a designation agreement

   G.S. 18C-905

   Sign a written agreement with a professional sports team, a motorsports or golf facility owner, or a qualifying governing body. Each may sign with only one operator.

3. 03

   Prepare the disclosures and the plans

   24 NCAC 06A .0210

   List every owner of 10% or more and every key person, order the background checks, and prepare the business plan, the responsible gaming plan, the security programme and the financial statements.

4. 04

   File the request form, then upload the application

   24 NCAC 06A .0209 · 06B .0205

   File the licence-type request form, receive the application, upload everything at once to the secure portal, and wire the $1,000,000 fee. A deficiency must be cured within 10 days.

5. 05

   Receive the decision and fund the reserve

   G.S. 18C-904 · 24 NCAC 06A .0413

   The Commission decides within 60 days of a completed application, extendable 30 days. Put in place the reserve of at least $500,000 and any tax bond the Secretary of Revenue requires.

6. 06

   Certify the platform and prepare to go live

   24 NCAC 06B .0402 · 06B .0405

   Have an approved laboratory test the system against GLI-33, set up geolocation and server locations, register with the Department of Revenue, and get the responsible gaming plan approved.

7. 07

   Go live and keep filing

   G.S. 105-113.126 · 24 NCAC 06A .0224

   Pay the 23% tax by the 20th of each month, file the daily summary and annual audit, and renew at least 60 days before the five-year term ends.

For businesses that create markets or settle outcomes (service provider) or supply data feeds, odds, platform, risk management, integrity monitoring, identity or geolocation services (supplier). The Commission issues the licence after a background investigation.

1. 01

   Confirm the class

   G.S. 18C-901 · 24 NCAC 06B .0203

   A business that provides covered services needs a service provider licence, and a business that supplies the components needs a supplier licence. General payment processing, general IT, hosting and advertising need none.

2. 02

   File the request form and the application

   G.S. 18C-906 · 18C-907

   File the request form on ncgaming.gov, complete the application after entering a business relationship with a licensed operator, and wire $50,000 for a service provider or $30,000 for a supplier.

3. 03

   Order the background checks and upload

   24 NCAC 06A .0210

   The applicant and each key person pay for a check through the Commission's vendor. Upload the form, every attachment and every disclosure at one time.

4. 04

   Ask for a provisional licence if needed

   24 NCAC 06B .0204

   A supplier with a completed application may ask for a provisional licence, valid for 180 days at most while the investigation runs.

5. 05

   Hold the licence and renew

   G.S. 18C-908

   The licence runs five years and renews at the same fee, at least 60 days before expiry. The Commission decides within 60 days of a completed application, extendable 30 days.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 7 Nov 2026.