NCLC sports betting committee recommends underage gambling ad ban

North Carolina Lottery Commission’s (NCLC) sports betting committee has proposed a blanket ban on advertising gambling to underage individuals among a range of new rules to be debated ahead of next year’s proposed online sports betting launch.

The NCLC approved the formation of the sports betting committee in September and is now refining its sports betting rules, which are currently on a second iteration.

In the 256-page document, proposed rules include operators being banned from using the word(s) “risk free” or “free” when referring to marketing promotions.

Alongside prohibited language, the document proposes that when a player wins $10,000 or over, the venue operator would be required to request the provision of multiple pieces of ID from that winner, including their name, physical address, social security number, and date of birth, before any winnings are paid out.

A key part of the document looked at advertising and marketing, with one section labeled “advertising to underage persons prohibited”.

The legal age for sports bettors in North Carolina is 21, and the document proposes that operator advertising and marketing does not “target underage persons” nor should it feature or appeal to underage people.

The document reads: “Advertising, marketing, branding, and other promotional materials published, aired, displayed, disseminated, or distributed by or on behalf of any operator shall state that players shall be 21 years of age or older to participate.”

It adds that operator-owned sites, including social media platforms, should include the legal age of wagering in the state and also stipulates that operators should not be allowed to advertise directly to voluntarily excluded players.

In comments reported by SportsHandle, North Carolina Lottery Commission Chairman Ripley Rand paid tribute to the committee for putting together the rules in a “very quick and thoughtful” way.

“I don’t think anybody on this committee or the commission itself signed up to be reading hundreds and thousands of pages of proposed rules, but the staff has made this process go probably as easily as it can go up to this point,” Rand added.

The second iteration of the rules are subject to a public commentary period, which ends on November 27, and will be discussed again at a meeting of the committee scheduled to take place on December 6.

Legislation requires that North Carolina’s mobile sports betting is live by mid-June 2024.