North Carolina Lottery Commission Approves Sports Betting Self-Exclusion Program

While online sportsbook operators are still awaiting final approval, North Carolina took an essential step toward launching sports betting next month. The North Carolina Lottery Commission (NCLC) announced this week that it has approved the state’s new self-exclusion plan. 

Self-exclusion programs have been a critical tool in the fight against problem gambling across the country, making it vital to establish them before North Carolina’s sports betting market goes live. 

The program allows bettors to add themselves to an official self-exclusion list voluntarily. Once that is done, the player will be blocked from using any account-based platform to gamble for a set amount of time. The list will cover all sports betting platforms in the state, making it easy for North Carolina residents to add themselves and take a break from betting.

North Carolina bettors can only add themselves to the list. That means you cannot add another person to the self-exclusion lists, even if it is for a family member.

It is important to remember that the self-exclusion lists only cover the state of North Carolina. That means if a resident of the Tar Heel State joins the program, they will still be able to access sports betting outside of state lines. 

Approval Keeps North Carolina On Track for March 11 Launch

Approval of the new problem gambling resource was one of the final hurdles before sports betting could go live in the state. 

The NCLC has not officially approved any sports betting operating licenses yet but confirmed last week that eight are on track to be approved before pre-registration begins on March 1. Some operators have already started soft marketing campaigns in the state, attempting to build hype to capture the largest market share once bettors can sign up. 

The following sportsbooks are expected to be live on March 11:

• Bet365

• BetMGM

• DraftKings

• Fanatics

• FanDuel

• ESPN Bet

• Caesars

• Underdog Sports