CHARLOTTE — Through nearly two years of twists and turns that led to the passage and then dramatic redesign of legislation that will bring legal online sports betting to North Carolina later this year, Greg Walter frequently found himself resetting expectations.
As executive vice president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway, Walter knew that a framework that required sportsbooks to go through the state’s pro sports teams and facilities to secure licenses was likely to deliver the most upside for his company. But when bill sponsors told him they couldn’t muster enough support to pass a “tethered model,” he resigned himself to the idea that a bill they could pass was better than one that would fail.
“We accepted that,” Walter said. “We were grateful for what we were going to get.”
What they eventually got was exactly what they’d hoped for — a tethered framework that requires sportsbooks to sign a “written designation agreement” with one of the state’s five pro teams, two speedways, NASCAR, the PGA Tour or two Tour event hosts in order to apply for a license.
Thanks to that requirement, six of the seven leading U.S. sportsbooks have struck market access deals with the state’s sports properties — all for at least a 10-year terms and most including sponsorships.
Included among them are DraftKings and BetMGM, which on Friday formally announced deals with NASCAR and Charlotte Motor Speedway, respectively. DraftKings’ deal with NASCAR makes it the sanctioning body’s fourth authorized gambling operator and its exclusive DFS provider. BetMGM’s agreement with the speedway includes a sponsorship that gives it rights to promote throughout the track, including driving signups in heavily trafficked pre-race fan zones.
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