NASCAR Goes All-In on Sports Gambling

Getty Images FOX Sports sportscaster Greg Olsen placing the DraftKings First Bet at the NASCAR Hall of Fame, March 2024

NASCAR has gone all in on sports gambling, as it looks to increase revenue and expand viewership beyond its traditional audience. With the news that North Carolina, NASCAR’s ancestral home, will now sanction online sports gambling, NASCAR believes it can “over-index” on this growing trend. The organization held an event with DraftKings at the NASCAR Hall of Fame to mark the occasion.

North Carolina residents can now place wagers, including on NASCAR, through state-approved sports gambling apps. These include FanDuel,  bet365, and DraftKings, among others. This means much more to NASCAR than legal sports gambling in most other states, however. As NASCAR’s Joseph Solosky told Gaming Today News, “this will for sure be a standout state. I have full confidence that North Carolina is going to over-index heavy on NASCAR.”

North Carolina joins 29 other states, plus the District of Columbia, in allowing online sports gambling. Users can place bets on NASCAR races, college and pro sports, and Olympic events using their smartphone. And soon, they will be able to make in-person bets at NASCAR races in North Carolina. NASCAR is hoping other states follow suit.

Gambling on the Love for NASCAR

NASCAR teamed up with online sports gambling giant DraftKings to celebrate today’s news. North Carolina now allows placing mobile bets on NASCAR events.

As DraftKings Chief Commercial Officer Jeremy Elbaum told Fox from NASCAR’s Hall of Fame, “North Carolina is a state that we’ve been really dying to get into for a couple of years now.” Elbaum added, “the love for NASCAR specifically and obviously the other major sports, has made this a key state for us.”

The North Carolina gambling law is unique, however, in two ways. To win approval for online sports gambling,  the state required each of the betting platforms to sign a partnership with an in-state team or governing body. NASCAR signed with DraftKings.

In addition, the law says it will also authorize in-person betting at racetracks — though the date for this has not yet been decided. Betting on races, before and during a race, via their smartphone or on track, could provide a huge boost to NASCAR revenues.

Placing Bets at NASCAR Tracks

NASCAR’s sports betting strategist, Joe Solosky, laid out the organization’s vision for legalized gambling, and it extends well beyond North Carolina — and well beyond gambling on smartphones. In his interview with Gaming Today just days before online gambling went legal, Solosky said “the partnership (with DraftKings) isn’t just North Carolina.”

NASCAR is working with the gambling site to help it bring both smartphone gambling and on-track gambling to nearby states South Carolina and Georgia. These states “over index” on the number of NASCAR races they hold, compared to most other states.

NASCAR already accounts for nearly 20% of legal sports gambling in the United States, but NASCAR wants more. Being able to gamble on a race, trackside — and while the race is taking place — could prove a huge win. For example, sports gambling app FanDuel suggests a variety of different NASCAR bets.

Through their smartphone, users can bet on the upcoming NASCAR race winner and Cup Series Champion. Of course, bets don’t have to be made before the race. Once the race starts, bettors can still place bets, say, after a major pile-up on the opening lap. Bettors can likewise make bets on who will finish in the top 3, the top 10, even bet on which driver will do better than another, a head-to-head gamble.

Sports gambling looks here to stay, and NASCAR sees this as an opportunity to grow new revenue streams. Sports gambling apps DraftKings, BetMGM, and FanDuel are all official NASCAR partners. And for those that need help placing a bet, NASCAR publishes race odds throughout the season.