It seems a lot of things are lining up with North Carolina becoming the latest state to legalize sports betting. North Carolina State’s run to the Final Four came at the perfect time (the state launched sports betting on March 11), and now the PGA Tour is looking to the Tar Heel State as the first step in maintaining golf’s recent sports betting boon.
North Carolina hosts two PGA events every year — the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte and the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro — and in 2024 the state also gets the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2. On top of that, the PGA Tour is reporting that the overall handle on golf betting through the first 11 tournaments of the season was up 14%.
PGA Tour metrics from last year also stated that golf betting went up at a larger rate than that of sports betting in the U.S. in general, which indicates that golf is an above-average betting sport in terms of popularity.
Golf has always had fans (at least players), and the PGA is confident the fanbase is there to build up a sports betting base as well. North Carolina is a big state for the PGA since it is one of the top areas for the tour — and given the number of sportsbooks live in North Carolina as of last month, there are a ton of opportunities.
One of those opportunities the state is counting on is live betting. Golf is slow — those of us who love to play can admit that, and old folk love it because of its slowness. That pace of play also means there is time to get bets in between the events. Even shot-by-shot bets are on the table.
A lot of this growth will also come from technological advances, but from a location standpoint, North Carolina’s growth in sports betting may set the precedent for the popularity of PGA betting going forward.
