WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) – College athletic departments around North Carolina continue to cash in nine months after mobile sports betting was legalized in the state.

North Carolina places an 18% tax rate on the gross revenue sports wagering operators bring in. That money is then split multiple different ways, with 20% of it going to 13 different athletic departments at state universities – including UNC Wilmington.

In the last fiscal year, which ended in June, departments received over $800,000 after initially only expecting around $300,000. In the next fiscal year, the projection is over $2 million. For non-power conference schools like UNCW, the impacts are sizable.

“It’s a wonderful thing for us,” athletic director Mike Oblinger said. “Anytime you can have additional revenue streams – whether you’re enhancing revenue streams or developing new ones – it’s obviously very important to what we’re trying to do here.”

The revenue started arriving in late spring, and has helped the athletic department catch up on needed facility maintenance, Oblinger said.

The athletic director was able to approach school chancellor Aswani K. Volety about expediting an overhaul of Brooks Field, where the Seahawks play baseball, two years early because of the new revenue. Now, new turf, dugouts and outfield walls are being installed. Upgrades to the school’s tennis courts and sports medicine facility are now possible, too, Oblinger said.

“Those are things that we need to do,” the AD said. “We’re putting that money to good use.”

Bettors in North Carolina have wagered over $4 billion since mobile gambling was legalized in March. November saw the second-highest single-month total of the year, with $657.7 million wagered.

Nathan Goldman, a professor of accounting at NC State, says the end of the year – with football, basketball and hockey all in action – is a peak period for sports gambling.

“The holidays, the periods when we have the most number of sports being played – those are when it’s going to be the most popular,” Goldman said.

While sports wagering operators pay state taxes, gamblers are expected to report their winnings as income, too, Goldman said. Winning a bet is considered income, Goldman explained, and since North Carolina lacks a miscellaneous itemized deduction in their tax law, the state can generate further revenue from income taxes. It’s also easier for the companies to keep track of bets and where they were placed throughout the year for tax purposes, he noted.

Despite revenue being higher this year than UNCW expected, Oblinger said the athletic department isn’t including it in its budget because of its “sporadic” nature.

“It’s one of those situations where it’s difficult to forecast what this year will look like, what next year will look like down the road,” he said.

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