North Carolina’s Plan to Double Sports Betting Tax to 36% Faces Fierce Opposition
North Carolina’s plan to double its sports betting tax from 18% to 36% in the 2025 Senate budget has triggered strong opposition from operators and anti-tax groups.
A Tax Hike That’s Stirring Trouble
North Carolina’s Senate proposed to jack up the sports betting tax from 18% to 36%, a move that’d rank the state among the nation’s highest.
Operators like BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel, backed by the Sports Betting Alliance, are fighting back hard, warning of worse odds and fewer promos for bettors.
“We need sports fans like you to stand up and tell your state lawmakers to protect legal sports betting,” the Alliance urged on its website, rallying over 14,500 letters to legislators.
With the state’s betting market at stake, the pushback, led by heavy hitters like Grover Norquist, is sparking a heated debate in Raleigh.
Operators Sound the Alarm
Sports betting companies aren’t sitting quiet. They’re flooding North Carolina users with messages, begging them to call or email lawmakers to kill the tax hike.
The pitch? A 36% tax could gut their ability to offer juicy odds or sweet signup bonuses, making legal betting less appealing.
“Higher taxes might push bettors to shady offshore sites,” operators warned, pointing to the US market’s illegal underbelly.
The Sports Betting Alliance, repping BetMGM, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Fanatics Sportsbook, has turned up the heat, with its website letting fans fire off pre-written letters to lawmakers. Over 14,500 have hit send, a big sign the industry’s not going down without a fight.
Grover Norquist’s Tax Crusade
Grover Norquist, head of Americans for Tax Reform, is leading the anti-tax charge, calling the 36% rate a “confiscatory approach to gaming taxation.”
In a letter to the Senate last month, he cited “cautionary tales” from states like Illinois, where a 40% top tax tier for big operators “hurt both firms and players.”
Norquist’s group is pushing every state and federal candidate to sign a no-tax-increase pledge, and he’s got history here, having lobbied in 2023 to ease North Carolina’s betting rules.
His argument? High taxes choke legal markets, driving bettors to unregulated platforms and costing states revenue.
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