But you can wager.
North Carolina apparently will be the last state to have legalized sports gambling in time for the National Football League and college football seasons. But the North Carolina gambling availability will be extremely limited. There will be just two Cherokee casinos, both located in the Appalachian Mountains and a far drive from the state’s two major league cities, Charlotte and Raleigh, offering sports gambling. There will be no mobile sports gambling allowed but North Carolina casino goers can bet on the state’s college teams. North Carolina will not be giving sports leagues an integrity fee either. All the states that approved sports gambling are up and going with operations or will be in time for the 2019 college and pro football seasons.
It has been 15 months since the United States Supreme Court came down with a decision that legalized sports gambling. Nevada got legalized sportsbooks in 1949. New York, New Jersey, Delaware, West Virginia, Rhode Island, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, Oregon, New Mexico, Arkansas, New Hampshire, North Carolina and Tennessee now have various forms of sportsbooks. Colorado voters will get the chance to say yes or no to legalized sports gambling in a November 5th referendum. Four states are moving ahead with legislation working through the system, with California, Massachusetts, Michigan and Ohio lawmakers debating the pros and cons of sports betting. Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association were looking for an integrity fee from Delaware and New Jersey once those states got sports betting up and going. MLB and the NBA wanted states to implement the same rules that apply in France and Australia where a piece of the pie, would be kicked back to the leagues so that the leagues could monitor sports betting to make sure it was all above board. The leagues continue to strike out in that effort.
