Sports betting in NC launches this week, responsible gaming tools offered

NORTH CAROLINA, N.C. (WTVD) -- There's a lot of excitement surrounding the legalization of sports betting in North Carolina.

With Monday's launch, many companies licensed to operate in the state are working to make their deals more enticing.

This includes FanDuel based out of New York. Customers who sign up on Sun., March 10 can get $100 in bonuses.

"That is in addition to an additional $200 that they can get tomorrow when they wager $5 or more," FanDuel Director of New States Jacob Blangsted-Barnor said.

Despite the excitement, the North Carolina Lottery Commission knows sports betting can open the door to gambling addiction for some. So, they've put proactive measures in place for that reason.

Each company granted a license to operate in NC must:

• Have a responsible gaming program, which includes a feature called self-exclusion. This allows people to exclude themselves from placing wagers.

• Provide responsible gaming training to its employees and provide information about gambling addiction resources in its marketing

Companies also are not allowed to target their marketing to people under 21.

North Carolina has issued operator licenses to seven companies to host interactive sports wagering.

"We take responsible gaming very, very seriously," Blangsted-Barnor said. "We know that FanDuel should be a platform that can be used as a formal entertainment for customers to play with on a budget, and we have a number of tools to ensure that that's the case."

FanDuel offers tools like deposit limits, time-outs, and wager limits.

They also encourage customers to download their monthly activity statements to see how much money they spend on the app.

"The idea is that if the customer has the knowledge of what they play and then, you know, the responsibility is there, it's much easier for a customer to be responsible when they are understanding what their play is like," Blangsted-Barnor said.

According to Yale Medicine, men are much more likely to have a gambling problem than women, especially for sports betting.

If you need any information about gambling addiction resources, click here.