This article, written by Scott Hamilton, appeared in the Post & Courier (SC). Here is a portion of the article...
A peek over the pine curtain into North Carolina is eye-opening. Our neighbors have created something about sports gambling that works.
And it doesn’t just help bankroll roads, schools, and various state-operated services. North Carolina’s program also invests some gambling money to college sports statewide.
The program allocates $300,000 annually in gambling tax revenue to the athletic departments at 13 state universities and colleges. It’s only a fraction of the big number, too, that is 20 percent of the remaining proceeds.
According to the North Carolina State Lottery Commission (the body overseeing sports betting), more than $21.5 million of gambling revenue was divvied between that baker’s dozen — each receiving an average of about nearly $1.7 million (three times initial estimates).
https://www.postandcourier.com/spor...cle_f1cf2748-0375-11f0-bf38-bbc1d78ce7ff.html
Incredibly, that’s also a prorated amount as it was March 2024 when sports gambling cranked up in North Carolina. Payout estimates for this year are expected to be more than $2 million apiece.
It’s especially eyebrow-raising when you consider that state’s Power 4 universities (Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest) don’t get any of the money. Two are private institutions, and the others decided they have plenty of revenue streams already. God bless ’em.
Otherwise, it’s a mix of schools ranging from Group of 5 programs to some HBCU’s that are getting major boosts. It’s the kind of money that goes a long way toward providing stability as college sports sails into murkier waters.
You have to wonder what athletic director wouldn’t embrace an extra million bucks to be more competitive, especially as the probability of paying athletes seems inevitable? To improve and modernize facilities?
Or — as the price of everything escalates — to keep their department solvent and a few more sports in existence?
“(Sports gambling is) occurring in our venues, it’s occurring in our communities, and it’s become just a regular form of entertainment,” said Matt Roberts, College of Charleston’s athletic director. “Why not find a way to capture some of its revenue? I’d be all for it.”
A peek over the pine curtain into North Carolina is eye-opening. Our neighbors have created something about sports gambling that works.
And it doesn’t just help bankroll roads, schools, and various state-operated services. North Carolina’s program also invests some gambling money to college sports statewide.
The program allocates $300,000 annually in gambling tax revenue to the athletic departments at 13 state universities and colleges. It’s only a fraction of the big number, too, that is 20 percent of the remaining proceeds.
According to the North Carolina State Lottery Commission (the body overseeing sports betting), more than $21.5 million of gambling revenue was divvied between that baker’s dozen — each receiving an average of about nearly $1.7 million (three times initial estimates).
https://www.postandcourier.com/spor...cle_f1cf2748-0375-11f0-bf38-bbc1d78ce7ff.html
Incredibly, that’s also a prorated amount as it was March 2024 when sports gambling cranked up in North Carolina. Payout estimates for this year are expected to be more than $2 million apiece.
It’s especially eyebrow-raising when you consider that state’s Power 4 universities (Duke, North Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest) don’t get any of the money. Two are private institutions, and the others decided they have plenty of revenue streams already. God bless ’em.
Otherwise, it’s a mix of schools ranging from Group of 5 programs to some HBCU’s that are getting major boosts. It’s the kind of money that goes a long way toward providing stability as college sports sails into murkier waters.
You have to wonder what athletic director wouldn’t embrace an extra million bucks to be more competitive, especially as the probability of paying athletes seems inevitable? To improve and modernize facilities?
Or — as the price of everything escalates — to keep their department solvent and a few more sports in existence?
“(Sports gambling is) occurring in our venues, it’s occurring in our communities, and it’s become just a regular form of entertainment,” said Matt Roberts, College of Charleston’s athletic director. “Why not find a way to capture some of its revenue? I’d be all for it.”
