The North Carolina State Lottery Commission recently discussed the future of mobile sports betting in the state. Officials remain convinced that they will be able to meet the original deadline, launching mobile sports betting by mid-2024.

The commission believes that the first mobile sportsbooks will go live within the first half of the next year, ushering in a new age of betting. According to representatives, the market should be functional no later than mid-June maybe even earlier.

Some went as far as claiming that the market may launch in January but many prefer to remain cautiously optimistic and focus on meeting the June deadline.

Sterl Carpenter, deputy executive director of gaming compliance and sports betting at the North Carolina State Lottery Commission, noted that lawmakers are still making tweaks to the mobile system. Despite that, Carpenter is certain that the commission will get betting running no later than mid-June.

In the meantime, the commission will continue its work on the local regulations and licensing system.

The Regulator Will Be Busy

Speaking of the licensing process in North Carolina, the commission was considering an electronic application system. However, the regulator did not quite like the four submissions it received and preferred not to progress with these plans for now. As a result, at least in the beginning, the North Carolina State Lottery Commission will handle the applications.

In the meantime, the commission unveiled the creation of a new sports betting committee that will deal with “sports betting issues that don’t fit neatly into the other committees.” This is yet another effort to systematize the regulator’s work ahead of the market launch.

In unrelated news, the North Carolina governor just rejected a controversial plan put forth by Republican state lawmakers that would have tied the long-awaited expansion of Medicaid with a proposed expansion of casino gaming in the state. Governor Roy Cooper went as far as calling the proposal the “most brutally dishonest legislative scheme” he has seen during his 30 years in politics.

In the meantime, a recent report claimed that the lobbying efforts of the gambling industry have affected the decisions of certain government members, influencing their votes during recent decisions. According to a local news outlet, eight North Carolina lawmakers had received a total of $34,400 between November 2022 and March 2023.

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This comes as welcome news to Raj Grewal who faced mounting scrutiny over the past year over his alleged involvement in lobbying for businessmen in front of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Grewal was also accused of helping with immigration application proceedings in exchange for loans.

Gambling Habits That Do Not Suggest Abuse of Power

None of these charges held up in court. The only part that is true, though, is Grewal’s proclivity for gambling to great lengths. He reportedly spent considerable sums, running in the millions of dollars, at the Casino du Lac-Leamy over the period of several years from 2015 through 2018, court documents state.

Because of his gambling habits, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched an investigation into his gambling habits and the source of his money. While the investigation did not prove any wrongdoing beyond a reasonable doubt, Grewal stepped down from his party post and did not go up for reelection in 2019.

Justice Sylvia Corthorn of Ontario did not find any evidence to suggest that Grewal had in any way abused his power to secure loans and sustain his gambling habit. In fact, Corthorn dismissed the case outright and did not find it necessary for the defense to deliver its arguments.

Should shove came to push, though, Grewal’s lawyer, Nader Hasan, would have simply stated that the loans were given by members of the local Sikh community, which Grewal has been a long-time member of.

Police Did Not Bother to Investigate, Says Lawyer

Hasan called the entire case based on flimsy evidence, but more importantly on a grave cultural misunderstanding. Essentially, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police misconstrued the relationships between Grewal and his fellow community members and sought to find evidence of wrongdoing where there was essentially none.

Hasan insisted that the police could have saved the Crown and itself considerable resources if it had gone to Grewal directly and collected evidence, or looked into the ties between him and his benefactors. The lawyer insisted that at no point did the police approach his client and demand a straightforward explanation of the loans.

They simply jumped to the conclusion that Grewal had abused power, which has now cost him his political career.

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