North Carolina Reports April Revenue Falls in Sports Betting
The sports betting market saw a striking decline in North Carolina in April 2025 from its high in April 2024. The best sportsbooks in the state recorded $576.2 million in bets, a 11.2% drop from the previous year. Despite the slowdown, the month still yielded a good performance as operators made an extra $8 million in revenue.
April's revenue came to $46.8 million, a 55.5% fall from April 2024's all-time record of $105.2 million. The next highest revenue for a month was November 2024 at $78 million.
In 2024, the start of legal online sports betting coincided with the climax of the NCAA basketball tournament and created a once-in-a-lifetime combination of events that resulted in record-high totals in April of that year. By comparison, April 2025 featured little college basketball play and contributed to a 15.9% decline in the monthly handle compared to March.
But April did see some revenue bounceback for operators, at least in part thanks to the NBA playoffs, which were beneficial to bookmakers. The hold average was 8.1% in April from 5.6% in March. Yet, that was still less than half of April 2024's 16.2% hold.
The state's eight licensed online sportsbooks - bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, ESPN BET, Fanatics Sportsbook, FanDuel, and Underdog - have paid out more than $215 million in aggregate revenue through the beginning of the year.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission approximates sports betting tax revenue for April at $8.4 million. Tax receipts for the activity amount to over $94 million for North Carolina since the start of the fiscal year in July 2024.
Success Has Lawmakers Wanting More
After the state embraced legalized online wagering, it has since raked in $2.4 billion in total handling for 2025. March and April accounted for $1.26 billion, a slight decrease from March and April 2024's $1.31 billion.
The North Carolina Senate has approved a budget proposal on April 17, including a provision to double the current 18% tax rate online operators pay to 36%. This would put North Carolina among the top states in the country in terms of sports betting tax rates.
Industry stakeholders have strongly resisted the proposed tax hike. Operators have launched a campaign asking users to contact their state legislators, claiming that the steep increase would most likely lead to worse odds and fewer offers. They argue that higher taxes might reduce the appeal of legal sportsbooks and force bettors toward offshore or black markets.
Noted anti-tax activist Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, has criticized the Senate plan. Norquist regularly campaigns against net tax increases and has been involved in North Carolina's sports betting legislative process previously.
In 2023, he signed a letter to the Senate Finance Committee calling for it to make operator-friendly provisions to lower tax burdens. Although those changes were not enacted, Norquist's return to opposition means the bill will come under intense scrutiny.
