North Carolina voters are largely comfortable with legal sports betting but want state lawmakers to crack down on prediction markets, a new Meredith College poll released Tuesday shows.
Key Takeaways
- Most North Carolina voters approve of regulated sports betting, with 51% satisfied and just 11% dissatisfied.
- Nearly two-thirds support banning prediction markets despite limited familiarity with the platforms.
- Underage betting and the impact on college athletes remain voters' top gambling concerns.
Fifty-one percent of registered voters reported being satisfied with how the state currently regulates sports betting. Another 11% said they are not satisfied, and the remaining 38% had no strong opinion either way.
Attitudes toward prediction markets such as Kalshi and Polymarket told a different story. Roughly two-thirds of voters said they would back state legislation banning these platforms outright, compared with only 24% who thought they should remain legal in North Carolina. The rest were undecided.
Familiarity with prediction markets remains low across the state. Only 15% of respondents described themselves as very familiar with how these platforms work, while 38% said they had some familiarity, and nearly half (47%) admitted they knew little to nothing about them.
Despite broad support for sports betting, voters remain concerned about who is placing bets. A majority (58%) said they were concerned about underage residents illegally wagering on sports, and half the respondents raised concerns about the effect of betting on college athletes specifically.
Meredith Poll director David McLennan said the pattern indicates voters weigh sports betting differently depending on who is involved, rather than viewing it purely as entertainment.
The poll surveyed 1,022 registered voters between July 1-8, with a credibility interval of plus or minus 3%.
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State budget set to reshape sports betting taxes, payouts
The poll comes as North Carolina lawmakers continue reshaping the state's gambling landscape. They have already moved to tax and restructure sports betting revenue through the state budget, a process that stretched on for months before reaching Gov. Josh Stein's desk.
Under the finalized spending plan, the tax rate on sports betting operators climbed from 18% to 23%, while prediction market operators face a new 6% tax on net trading fee revenue starting Jan. 1, 2027. Several sportsbook operators have also launched separate prediction market sites that are available in North Carolina.
The budget also changed how betting tax revenue gets distributed among universities. UNC and NC State, the system's two largest athletic departments, had been excluded from earlier distributions that benefited 13 other UNC System schools. Under the new formula, those two schools, along with Appalachian State, Charlotte, and East Carolina, could collectively receive up to $5.8 million annually starting July 1, 2027.
Since online North Carolina sports betting launched in March 2024, operators have paid more than $300 million in taxes on gross wagering revenue. The budget additionally allows bettors to deduct betting losses against winnings on state income taxes for the first time, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2025, a change championed by Rep. Erin Pare, a Wake County Republican.
