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WRAL/WSOC Poll: Majority say they’ve never bet on sports in NC, but state reports $15.7B in wagers
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WRAL/WSOC Poll: Majority say they’ve never bet on sports in NC, but state reports $15.7B in wagers

Posted: 10/16/2026, 8:40:52 AM

A wide majority of North Carolina adults say they haven’t placed a bet since the state launched legal online sports betting in March 2024, according to a new WRAL/WSOC Poll.

The poll found 63% of adults haven’t bet, a figure that has remained consistent over the years. A Meredith poll this summer found 62% of respondents hadn’t placed a bet. In a 2024 WRAL poll, 64% said they had never made a bet.

The poll found that 5% of North Carolina adults have bet once since legalization, 13% have bet between two and four times and 14% have bet five times or more.

Bettors in the state have wagered $15.7 billion in paid wagers on sports through legal online sportsbooks since the launch. Those figures, which don’t include another $780 million in promotional or free bets, are through the end of August. Bettors in the state have wagered at least $500 million in paid wagers in each of the past 12 months, including a record $791 million in November.

“There’s got to be people who have done it hundreds of times in that same time window, and it would be interesting to see what percentage of the population actually might have a problem there,” said Ken Alper, the president of Survey USA, which conducted the WRAL/WSOC Poll from Oct. 7 to Oct. 11.

Those who are most likely to be betting include:

  • Men: More than twice as likely as women to have placed multiple bets;
    • Young adults: Adults under 50 are more than three times as likely as those over 50 and nearly six times as likely as those over 65 to have placed multiple bets;
      • Black and Latino adults: More than 1.5 times as likely to have placed multiple bets as compared to white adults

        Apler said that North Carolina’s results are consistent with findings in other states where between a quarter and a third of respondents say they have participated in sports betting.

        The poll had 900 respondents for the sports betting question and a credibility interval of 4 percentage points. A credibility interval is similar to a margin of error but takes into account more factors and is considered by some pollsters to be a more accurate measurement of statistical certainty.

        WRAL examined the rapid rise of the sports betting industry and the growing concerns about its impact in the state with its investigative documentary, The Gamble: Sports Betting in North Carolina.