Since legal online sports betting began in mid-March, most North Carolina adults have not bet.
A new WRAL News Poll shows that 64% of North Carolina adults never bet, and only 10% have bet five or more times. WRAL and independent pollster SurveyUSA polled 900 adults.
Raleigh elevator technician Sam Robles hasn’t bet and won’t.
“Because it can be addictive, so I don’t want to get into that,” Robles told WRAL Friday.
Monthly revenue figures from the North Carolina State Lottery Commission show approximately $3 billion in paid and promotional bets through August.
The poll indicated that younger males with families and better incomes make those bets more often. Urban men (17%), suburban men (14%), people aged 18-24 (14%) and 25-34 (11%), white males (11%), Black males (12%), registered Republicans (11%), parents (12%), and those earning more than $40,000 and $80,000 per year (11%), bet more than five times.
Parental gambling was substantially higher than those without children. Over 70% of childless responders never bet. While 51% of parents had never bet, the percentage of parents betting at each frequency in the poll more than twice that of non-parents.
Nearly three in four women have never bet, and only 5% have bet five times.
The low percentage of high-frequency sports bettors reflects other polls and North Carolinians’ March WRAL poll answers. That study found 7% of respondents expected to gamble frequently and 53% did not.
“I do find that a bit surprising, especially considering how much the gambling industry was advertising sports betting and offering promotional wagers and all of that,” said North Carolina Family Policy Council president and longtime anti-legal gambling opponent John Rustin. “If the numbers are accurate, it’s encouraging that they weren’t higher because that would have caused more people in the state to suffer.”
Eight sports betting firms were approved to accept North Carolina adult bets on March 11. Bettors placed over $1.3 billion in paid and promotional bets in the first seven weeks through April. The sports calendar slowed wagering in June, July, and August. Those three months saw $1.1 billion bet.
Football season begins in September, thus betting totals should grow. Monthly state problem gambling helpline calls have also set records.
Big support for casinos
Most North Carolina adults support casinos outside tribal lands. Two Cherokee casinos are located in far-western North Carolina, while the Catawba Nation has one in Cleveland County in South Carolina.
Legislature considered allowing four casinos in economically disadvantaged tourism regions in 2023. The plan split House and Senate Republicans and was never voted on. No equivalent legislation was introduced this year.
55% strongly or somewhat support casinos beyond tribal lands, while 31% strongly or somewhat oppose it. Another 14% were unsure.
As proposed personal income tax cuts through the end of the decade reduce revenue, North Carolina lawmakers may turn to gambling, including casinos and video lottery terminals.
“Most North Carolinians seem accustomed to all forms of gambling, so supporting casino gambling in the state does not seem unusual,” Meredith Poll director David McLennan told WRAL earlier this year.
The state has the lottery and just authorized online sports wagering. Many states, including those on the border, already have casino gambling, so even citizens who opposed it 20 years ago may now accept it as inevitable.
The most supportive demographic groupings were urban men (44%) and Black men (43%). Support was mostly similar across parties and age categories, however those over 65 were least supportive.
Rustin pointed to a casino in Danville, Virginia, across the North Carolina border, saying, “What we find is that these casinos are not just standalone casino operations, but they’re massive developments that include hotels and restaurants and shopping space and entertainment centers, and so they’re much larger than what a lot of people are led “They are misled into thinking a casino will boost the local economy.
However, these casinos, especially big casino projects, compete with local hotels, restaurants, and other entertainment establishments.
A credibility interval of 4.1 percentage points on sports betting and 4.2 on casinos was found in the WRAL News Poll from Sept. 4-7. A credibility interval, like a margin of error, considers additional elements and is regarded a more accurate statistical certainty metric by certain pollsters.