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North Carolina’s legal sports betting market continued to expand in November, with both handle and revenue posting strong year-on-year gains as the state heads through its first full NFL season with mobile wagering in place.
According to figures released by the North Carolina State Lottery Commission, licensed sportsbooks handled US$813.97m in bets during November 2025, up 23.8% from US$657.7m a year earlier. Handle was broadly flat compared with October’s US$811.4m, suggesting early signs of a stable base heading into the end of the football calendar.
Gross sports betting revenue reached US$92.9m, an increase of 19% on November 2024’s US$78.1m and matching October’s month-on-month uplift. State tax receipts followed the same pattern, rising 19% year-on-year from US$14.1m to US$16.7m.
Stable handle, stronger yields
The near-flat month-on-month handle but higher revenue suggests operators achieved slightly better win rates in November, helped by a dense schedule of NFL, college football and early NBA action.
Promotional handle – the value of bets placed using bonuses and free bets – came in at US$22.3m, modestly higher than the US$19m recorded in November 2024. That uptick indicates that while operators are still using targeted offers to acquire and retain customers, the market is no longer being driven by the heavy subsidy levels seen at launch.
For the state, the 19% increase in tax to US$16.7m underscores why North Carolina’s leadership has leaned into a regulated framework. The revenue is earmarked in part for education, youth sports and problem gambling programmes, as set out in the original enabling legislation.
Market maturing after mobile launch
North Carolina opened its mobile sports betting market in March 2024, joining a cluster of southeastern states that have built regulated ecosystems around major college and professional sports. Early months were characterised by aggressive promotional spend and rapid customer onboarding.
The latest figures suggest the market is now settling into a more sustainable pattern, with solid year-on-year growth layered on top of a relatively steady month-on-month handle line. For operators, that means a gradual shift from pure acquisition to a mix of retention, product differentiation, and margin management.
For policymakers and regulators, the key questions now move beyond volume and tax to issues such as advertising saturation, responsible gambling controls, and the balance between competition and stability in the operator field.
Outlook: football tail and basketball lift
Looking ahead, December and January numbers will show how North Carolina’s market performs through the end of the NFL regular season, the college bowl schedule, and the start of the NCAA basketball conference slates – all periods that typically support higher engagement.
If current trends hold, the state is on track to post another year of double-digit growth in both handle and revenue, bolstering its position as one of the more significant sports betting markets in the region and giving lawmakers a larger data set as they debate any future changes to tax, advertising, or product rules.
Source: MSN
