Best North Carolina Sports Betting Sites: Live NOW!

Online sports betting continues to be legalized across the United States, and North Carolina has now joined in on the fun. As of March 11, 2024, online sports betting is operational in the Tar Heel State via several brand-name operators.

In this piece, we dive into the best North Carolina sports betting sites and the signup promotions they are currently offering to new users. We also go into detail on the timeline that led us to this point and provide plenty of information that could be helpful to new sports bettors beginning their online wagering journey.

Tar Heel State bettors do not have a shortage of betting sites to choose from in North Carolina as evidenced by the list below. All of the following sites have been licensed to operate safely and legally in the state.

Now that you can gamble online in North Carolina, we’re here to give some background on each sportsbook and context on each promotion new players can sign up with.

The top North Carolina sports betting site kicking things off is none other than Fanatics Sportsbook NC. This sportsbook is newer to the betting market in general but might be a familiar name due to the associated apparel brand that sells all kinds of sports memorabilia. We’d also like to note the unique FanCash program, which gives you more value for your bets by rewarding you with on-site currency that you can cash in for bonus bets or Fanatics apparel.

New players registering can click here to enroll in the signup offer of LIVE in NC: Bet up to $100 each day for ten days and get that amount matched as a bonus bet each day you opt-in, no Fanatics Sportsbook NC promo code needed. You’ll have seven days to use your bonus bets before they expire.

Secondly, FanDuel Sportsbook is a fabulous choice all-around as it’s one of the most well-rounded sportsbooks in the U.S. Its reputation for being the number-one sportsbook in the country is obvious when you look at its over one million reviews on the Apple App Store with a nearly perfect rating to its name. Regular profit boosts and odds boosts are common as well as various other promotion types that change depending on the time of year and sports calendar.

Click here to register with the FanDuel North Carolina promo code to unlock $200 in bonus bets after your first bet of $5 or more on any market settles. Bonus bets expire after seven days, but you can split up your sum of bonus bets into as many different bets as your heart desires such as four $50 bets or two $100 bets.

Must be 21+ and Present in North Carolina. Gambling Problem? Call 877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov. New Users Only. Terms and Conditions Apply.

Like FanDuel, BetMGM Sportsbook has heavy advertising efforts at its back and a large player count. Its mobile app has just about as good of a star rating as FanDuel. Factors like having some of the most competitive odds and among the best selection of bet types help this online sportsbook stand out. In addition to promos like Lion’s Boosts, a strong rewards program encourages customers to keep coming back.

The sign-up promotions BetMGM offers are a 20% deposit match worth up to $8,000 in sports bonus or a first bet insurance offer up to $1,500. Use code PHILLY1600 to get 20% of your first deposit up to $1,600 in cash matched as sports bonus. Note if you redeem this promo, a 10x wagering requirement will need to be met within 30 days.

If you use code INQUIRERMGM and lose less than $50 on your first bet, you’ll get one bonus bet back equal to what you lost. If you wager $50 or more, five bets each totalling 20% of your stake will be how you get paid back.

If FanDuel is advertised as the number one sportsbook in North America, DraftKings Sportsbook is right on its tail. Another platform with impeccable mobile app reviews, DraftKings does just about everything well including having a generous rewards program, an easy-to-use interface, and a bounty of promotions for returning customers such as frequent profit boosts and no-sweat bets on straight and parlay wagers.

New players at DraftKings North Carolina will unlock a welcome bonus of bet $5, get $200 in bonus bets, which is a competitive offer in the fierce NC online sports betting industry. You’ll also be given a no sweat NBA SGP each day of the 2024 postseason! To claim this offer, simply click on this link - no DraftKings North Carolina promo code is required.

Another newer name on the online sportsbook scene is ESPN BET Sportsbook, which is a brand that needs little introduction due to the wide recognition of the ESPN brand. The sportsbook’s user interface is appealing to look at, and it offers frequent promotions for returning customers. The live betting selection is good for a new sportsbook as well.

Using the ESPN BET North Carolina promo code INQUIRER allows you to wager any amount on any market and $150 in bonus bets will be yours after your bet slip is submitted. This promo is the only one on our list that lets you bet as little as you want while giving you guaranteed bonus bets. However, note that ESPN BET has a $10 minimum deposit requirement.

bet365 Sportsbook had established itself as a sports betting titan overseas before expanding into North America in 2019. The platform has continued to grow more popular by offering a large amount of boosted odds bets each day, having competitive odds, and offering one of the cleanest interfaces for players.

When you register for a new account using the bet365 North Carolina bonus code INQUIRER, you can select from two welcome bonuses. Choose between a first bet safety net that’ll refund your first bet up to $1,000 back in bonus bets if you lose or a bet $5, get $150 in bonus bets offer!

Caesars Sportsbook is another brand that could be familiar due to Caesars’ casino brand, which is one of the most popular across the world. Caesars Sportsbook does a couple of things well including having some unique promotions for returning players and offering a large selection of boosted odds bets regularly updated throughout the day. Its futures bets selection is one of the better ones available as well.

You can sign up with the Caesars Sportsbook North Carolina promo code INQUIRER1000 for a bonus of a $1,000 first bet insurance. This promotion will pay back your first wager’s stake in bonus bets if you lose. You’ll get just one bonus bet back equal to the amount you lose, but you’ll have 14 days to use it before it expires.

Underdog Sports is the newest name in sports betting. After years of Underdog Fantasy being a popular brand in the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) scene, the operator has expanded to provide an online sportsbook. North Carolina is the first state operational state of Underdog Sports.

The promotion you can claim when registering for Underdog Sports is a $1,000 first-bet mulligan. Like bet365′s first bet safety net, this bet insurance kicks in if your first wager results in a loss.

Below is a timeline of how North Carolina sports betting came to be. Events dating back to 2018 show as clear of a road as possible on what all needed to happen for North Carolina to launch online sports betting.

North Carolina sports bettors can leverage two main types of promos: new user promotions and existing user promotions. We look at the differences between and examples of these two promotion types below.

Also known as a sign-up bonus or welcome offer, a new user promotion is an incentive that sportsbooks use to attract new customers. These promotions are friendly to the user so that they can get a leg up and potentially receive some type of bonus bets. The house money allows users to get a feel for the platform in a budget-friendly way, allowing them to decide if they want to keep playing.

One of the most common new user promotions across sportsbooks is a bet-and-get offer. You get bonus bets as a result of submitting or settling your first bet. Sportsbooks have different amounts and tweaks to their promotions such as only giving you bonus bets if your first bet wins.

Deposit match bonuses are more common at online casinos than sportsbooks, but that doesn’t mean you can’t come across these types of offers. If a sportsbook offers a deposit match, that means whatever amount of money you put in on your first deposit will be matched in bonus bets.

This type of promotion will come with a wagering requirement. Let’s say you got $200 in bonus bets off a deposit match. If your promotion has a 10x wagering requirement, that means $2,000 ($200 x 10) is what you’ll need to wager within a set period to keep your bonus bets and withdraw your winnings.

A bet insurance offer is a promotion that pays back the money you wagered on your first bet in bonus bets if the result was a loss. These offers are billed in different ways such as no-sweat first bets, first bet safety nets, or first bet offers.

Since you only get bonus bets if your first bet loses, you walk away with your winnings but no bonus bets if your first wager is successful.

After you’ve signed up with a new user promotion and received all the fruits of the bonus, you’re now an existing user on that site. Existing user promotions are ways to still get bonuses throughout your betting journey.

Some promos like odds boosts and profit boosts can boost the odds on your bet, which in turn increases the potential winnings you can receive. Others like a loyalty program reward you for continually wagering on the platform. You can see the most common existing user promotions you’ll come across below.

An odds boost is pretty self-explanatory, as it’s simply a promotion you can opt into to boost your odds. You’ll come across different odds boost percentages and odds boosts only applicable to certain sporting leagues. Odds boosts are more common on prop bets or parlays.

As is the case with every sportsbook promo, you should read the terms and conditions of the odds boost you’re looking to use to ensure you’re applying it optimally.

Bonus bets are common with signup bonuses, but you can also earn bonus bets through various promotions for existing users. There will be a time limit on how long you have to use your bonus bets after acquiring them. Most sportsbooks give you seven days, but it’s important to check the terms and conditions to be safe.

Profit boosts are similar to odds boosts, as they are a tool you can use to increase potential winnings. Profit boosts usually have fewer restrictions than odds boosts, meaning you can use them on almost any bet. It all depends on what sportsbook you’re signing up for, which is why it’s important to read all the information available about it.

One of the most consistent existing user promotions you’ll find across most North Carolina betting sites is a referral program. This promotion rewards both parties (you and the person you’re referring) with some type of reward.

The process of referring someone to your sportsbook involves sending them your referral link from within the promotion and following the terms and conditions it outlines.

Some sportsbooks just require your friend to deposit a certain amount for both of you to receive a reward. Others require a first bet of so much money to be placed beforehand. Regardless, this user-friendly promotion is ideal for both parties if you know someone who would enjoy the sportsbook you’re using.

While not every sportsbook has a rewards program, a solid amount do. Rewards programs are exactly as they sound. They are programs you can enroll in that give you different rewards as you continue to bet and progress through the tiers.

You don’t have to enroll in a rewards program if you don’t want to. But if you’re someone who plans to wager regularly, consider doing so to maximize your bankroll.

While no two sportsbooks will look identical or have the same registration process, the instructions below do a good job of summarizing the most common steps sportsbooks will guide you through when creating your account.

The law North Carolina signed to allow online sports betting was HB 347. This bill tasked the North Carolina State Lottery Commission responsible for overseeing all things sports betting such as approving license applications from various sportsbooks.

This bill allows 12 online sportsbooks and eight retail sportsbooks to operate in the Tar Heel State. The eight we mentioned are live already, meaning there’s room for four more online sports betting sites.

The most important information to come out of HB 347 was regarding betting on college sports. While some states restrict betting on the NCAA in various forms, bettors have free reign over every kind of sports bet in the college sports scene.

Sports betting features have continued to grow from where they originated where you would simply pick a winner of a game. More bet types are available than ever before, and North Carolina betting apps allow you to wager on all of them.

Below are some of the most popular bet types you can place from standard markets such as moneylines to the newest fascination amongst bettors of prop bets.

The easiest type of bet to understand is the moneyline, as it simply involves picking a winner for any given game. A (+) sign notes the underdog while the (-) sign notes the favorite. Betting on the underdog will always yield you a better potential payout, especially the longer their odds are.

A popular alternative to moneyline markets is spreads. Spreads are a way for oddsmakers to predict how far apart two teams will finish in the final score. For example, if UNC has a -5.5 point spread, oddsmakers think UNC will win by six or more points.

If UNC has a spread of +5.5 points, you can win this bet in two ways. You’ll get a payout if UNC loses by five points or less or outright wins the game.

Another bet type involving the final score is the totals market. It’s easy to understand but challenging to get right, as you have to pick whether two teams in a game will combine for over or under a set amount of points.

For example, O233.5 points means you need the two teams to score at least 234 points between them to win your bet. U233.5 points means you need 233 or fewer points to be scored for your bet to win. -110 are the most common odds you’ll see on the over and under sides of this market.

Sports betting isn’t limited to games happening in the present moment. Futures markets are a way of wagering on something that won’t be decided until a later date. Examples of these markets are betting on who will win the championship in a certain league or an individual award like MVP or Rookie of the Year.

If you have more than one bet you want to place on a game, you can combine them into a parlay. Every bet you place inside your parlay is called a leg, and you need every leg to be correct to win your parlay. The more legs in your parlay, the longer the odds are and the more you can potentially win.

Finally, prop bets have risen in popularity in recent years amongst sports bettors. These wagers put you deeper in the action with player props, team props, and game props all offering different ways for you to bet on specific aspects of a game.

A few examples of different prop bets are whether a player will score over or under a certain number of points or whether or not a game will go to overtime.

There aren’t many states in North America with a more passionate base of college sports fans than the Tar Heel State. North Carolina is home to two of the most accomplished college basketball programs at Duke and UNC, who just so happen to have arguably the greatest rivalry in sports amongst themselves.

In addition to them, the NC State Wolfpack and Wake Forest Demon Deacons have loyal fan bases that make great rivals in their own rights to Duke and UNC.

The NFL, NBA, and NHL each have a team represented from North Carolina in the Carolina Panthers, Charlotte Hornets, and Carolina Hurricanes, respectively. When you add up all these teams, you have a bounty of teams for North Carolina sports bettors to wager on.

The Duke Blue Devils have won five national championships in basketball. They’ve been a powerhouse in producing elite NBA talent over the last 15 years such as Kyrie Irving, Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and many more. Former head coach Mike Krzyzewski is a legendary figure in basketball coaching history as well.

Just nine miles away is the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. UNC has one more national championship to their name than Duke and has also produced a plethora of NBA legends such as Vince Carter, James Worthy, and Michael Jordan. They’ve had legendary coaching as well under Dean Smith and Roy Williams.

The Carolina Hurricanes have only been in Carolina since the 1998 season, as they were previously known as the Hartford Whalers. They won their one and only Stanley Cup in 2005 but have consistently been a playoff team. Cam Ward and Eric Staal are two of the greatest players in the franchise’s history.

The Charlotte Hornets (F.K.A the Charlotte Bobcats) have been one of the NBA’s struggling franchises since their inception in 1988. Charlotte hasn’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since the 2001 season and has never made it past the second round. Lamelo Ball and Brandon Miller make up a young core hoping to turn around the Hornets’ fortunes.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons haven’t experienced success near to the same degree as Duke and UNC, but they have a strong following nonetheless hailing out of Winston-Salem. While they’ve never won an NCAA Championship, they’ve won four regular-season crowns and five conference tournaments. Tim Duncan and Chris Paul are their best players all-time.

The final of the four college basketball teams hailing out of North Carolina is the NC State Wolfpack. NC State has won two NCAA Championships in 1974 and 1983. They also have 13 regular season championships and 17 conference tournament championships to their name. David Thompson is the most heralded player to come out of the program.

The Charlotte FC might not be a familiar football club to casual soccer fans, as they’ve only been an active MLS program since 2022 after being announced as an expansion team in 2019. Their owner is David Tepper, who also currently owns the Carolina Panthers.

The aforementioned Panthers are one of the newest teams to enter the NFL as their first season came in 1995. They appeared in two Super Bowls in 2003 and 2015 but failed to win either time. They have NFC South divisional titles to their name. Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly, Steve Smith, and UNC alumni Julius Peppers are some of the franchises’ best players of all time.

If you’re new to sports betting, you might be unsure of what to keep an eye out for or what you’re in store for. Below are a few common features that make up similarities on every sportsbook that are important to know about and consider when choosing a sportsbook.

The user interface is a crucial aspect every sportsbook wants to master. Having a smooth user interface is important to help new players not feel lost or overwhelmed. It’s also important for maintaining players, as an interface that’s hard to navigate is one that can lose players’ interest in favor of another one.

Live betting is a newer feature online sportsbooks have adopted that lets you wager on games as they’re happening. Because of how frequently things change in the course of any given game, live betting odds fluctuate regularly. DraftKings and FanDuel are just two examples of sportsbooks that excel at live betting.

Odds are the heart and soul of sports betting, as they dictate what you can win if you successfully bet on a market. It doesn’t hurt to have multiple sportsbooks downloaded, as no two sportsbooks are guaranteed to have the same odds on a given betting market. You can count on sites like BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel for competitive odds.

FanDuel and BetMGM are just two sportsbooks with live-streaming functionality. Some sportsbooks have adopted this newer feature, but others have been slow to jump on board. Sportsbooks that offer live streaming are a gem for sports bettors, as you can watch your bet unfold in real-time or place live bets according to what you’re watching on your game’s livestream without having to open another app.

If something goes wrong or you’re unsure about something, contacting customer service might be your best bet to get your issue resolved. You can find customer service options fairly easily on most sports betting apps. Sportsbooks may offer different methods, but phone number, email, or a live chat box will be three of the most common.

It goes without saying that you need to pay real money to bet on sportsbooks unless you’re using bonus bets. Luckily for you, just about every sportsbook offers various banking methods for you to use.

The most common deposit methods available to you will include a debit or credit card, Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, an online bank transfer, ACH/eCheck, and more. Deposits are made available right away, but sportsbooks have different minimum deposit amounts to keep in mind.

While you cannot withdraw your winnings onto a credit card, most of the same options listed above can be used when requesting a withdrawal. Sportsbooks require different minimum withdrawal amounts, and you’ll possibly have to wait at least 24 hours to get your funds.

You can let all worries leave your mind about whether sports betting in North Carolina is safe as long as you use a reputable app. The North Carolina State Lottery Commission has approved applicants for sportsbook licenses, and you can trust it to take care of anything that may be unsafe.

You won’t need to look far for responsible gambling help on sportsbooks in North Carolina. Every sportsbook we’ve listed has links you can click for resources to educate yourself on problem gambling. You’ll also find ways to set limits on your account, take a break, or even self-exclude.

If you don’t want to find responsible gambling resources through your sportsbook, you can contact 877-718-5543 or visit morethanagame.nc.gov.

These questions below are among the most frequently asked that may come up for players trying to learn about North Carolina sports betting.

Yes, you can use FanDuel in North Carolina. Other online sportsbooks available to NC bettors include DraftKings, BetMGM, bet365, ESPN BET, Fanatics, Underdog Sports, and Caesars.

NC online sports betting went live on March 11, 2024. The launch came just one week before the tip-off of March Madness, offering a perfect opportunity for players to bet on electrifying action right off the jump.

Online betting going live wasn’t a process that happened overnight. Governor Roy Cooper signed North Carolina House Bill 347 into law in June of 2023, which made online sports betting legal.

Before legal sports betting could take place, The North Carolina State Lottery Commission had to approve licenses and make sure regulations were in place to ensure a smooth launch.

Yes, you can bet on sports online in North Carolina through legal sportsbooks.

North Carolina bettors have a large number of legal online sports betting sites to consider betting with. Some of the most popular and best platforms include bet365, FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM.

You should consider multiple factors when choosing which of these platforms to sign up with. The four online sports betting operators noted above all have good sign-up promotions to help get you established in addition to having competitive odds and a well-rated mobile app.

You can rest assured knowing all the sportsbooks approved by the North Carolina State Lottery Commission are safe and trustworthy. You don’t need to feel apprehensive about entering your personal information, as many of these sportsbooks have been approved and regulated in a large number of states before they went live in North Carolina.

As is the case in a majority of the U.S., the Tar Heel State requires sports bettors to be 21 or older. As of the time of publication, Wyoming, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Montana, and Kentucky are the only states in which you can wager on online sports at an earlier age (18).

Each of the betting promos in this piece is worth considering in North Carolina. But if we had to choose the two sportsbooks whose offers stood out most, we’d have to go with bet365 and FanDuel. We appreciate that bet365 gives you a choice between two competitive offers, and FanDuel gives you the largest amount of bonus bets after betting only $5.

College athletics fans will be thrilled to know that there are no restrictions when it comes to college sports betting. You can wager on any team in any setting, and there are no restrictions against prop betting on athletes or games like there are in some states.

Gambling Problem? Call 877-718-5543 or access North Carolina voluntary self-exclusion.

The Inquirer is not an online gambling operator, or a gambling site. We provide this information about sports betting for entertainment purposes only.