Place your bets! Sports betting is up and running in North Carolina

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Sports betting has finally arrived in North Carolina, but how do you get in on the fun?

There are eight different mobile apps approved for use across the state as of launch day. Each one of them has various promotional deals offering free bonus bets or other incentives to get you to sign up and place your first wagers.

You can click on the links below to visit each app’s website or download the app to your phone.

• ESPN BET
• DraftKings — New customers get $250 in Bonus Bets after making first $5 wager
• FanDuel — New customers get $200 in Bonus Bets after making first $5 wager
• BetMGM — New customers get $150 in Bonus Bets after making first $5 wager
• Bet365 — Get $150 in Bonus Bets after your first $5 wager OR get up to $1,000 back if your first wager loses
• Fanatics — This is the official sportsbook of the Carolina Hurricanes. When you sign up, you’ll get 10 days of matched Bonus Bets, up to $100 each
• Underdog Sports Wagering — First Bet Mulligan: Get up to $1,000 back if you lose your first wager
• Caesars Sportsbook — When you make your first wager of $10 or more, you’ll get $250 in Bonus Bets

This comes just a day before the start of the ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament and a little more than a week before the start of the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments.

Those tournaments, historically, are some of the most heavily wagered on sporting events of the year.

“(North Carolina sportsbooks) stand to make about $7 to 10 million in March. After March, sports betting slows way down. But between April through June of the coming year, that they will probably generate another $15 to $18 million in tax revenue is what we project. So North Carolina is going to do really well because it’s their first year — (not just) because they have a broad sports fan base — but because of when they’re launching,” NCSharp.com Managing Editor Tyler Andrews said.

North Carolina is the 38th state to legalize sports gambling and the 30th to allow for mobile gaming.

According to the American Gaming Association, Americans wagered just under $120 billion last year – a record figure. Part of that jump was fueled by five new states launching legalized gaming. Those states accounted for about 14% of all gambling revenue.

Despite the excitement, the North Carolina Lottery Commission knows sports betting can open the door to gambling addiction for some. So, they’ve put proactive measures in place for that reason.

Each company granted a license to operate in NC must:

• Have a responsible gaming program, which includes a feature called self-exclusion. This allows people to exclude themselves from placing wagers.
• Provide responsible gaming training to its employees and provide information about gambling addiction resources in its marketing

Companies also are not allowed to target their marketing to people under 21.