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The North Carolina State Lottery Commission has released its sports wagering revenue report for February 2026.
Between 1-28 February, account holders in North Carolina wagered $596,137,211 on sporting events, including paid and promotional wagers. From those wagers, account holders won $535,216,387. February included the Super Bowl as well as the Winter Olympics.
State law levies an 18% tax on the gross wagering revenue generated by sports wagering activity. Gross wagering revenue is a total of amounts received from sports wagers less the amounts paid as winnings before any deductions for expenses, fees, or taxes.
In February, the gross wagering revenue for the state's licensed interactive sports wagering operators totaled $58,058,337. After the 18 percent tax rate is applied, the estimated tax proceeds for the month would be $10,450,501. This is the projected amount that the N.C. Department of Revenue will collect from sports wagering operators.
Despite the Super Bowl taking place this month, the $581 million in paid bets was the lowest total since August before the start of football season, but it does represent a 10.6% increase over wagering activity in February 2025.
North Carolina has been regulating online sports betting for two years now and hit a milestone of $13 billion in paid bets last month.
Since March 11, 2024, bettors have placed over $13 billion in legal sports wagers across eight operators, with February 2026 seeing $581 million in bets.
In addition to the state-regulated sportsbooks, offshore gambling sites, local bookies using Pay Per Head platforms, prediciton markets and daily fantasy sports sites are also accessible to North Carolina residents. Individuals playing at any gambling establishment - regulated or not - will still need to pay their taxes, though much of that money will go to the federal government.
- Aaron Goldstein, Gambling911.com
