NFL Draft, NCAA championships, Army-Navy? New state fund could help lure big-time sporting events :: WRAL.com

A new state fund created to help attract big sporting events to the state helped Charlotte land next year’s Major League Soccer All-Star Game. Now organizers across the state are hoping the fund’s millions can aid bids for future events such as the NHL All-Star Game, NCAA championships in wrestling or ice hockey, the Army-Navy football game or the NFL Draft.

“It feels a bit like an arms race,” said Scott Dupree, the executive director of the Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance. “Things become more expensive, events become more expensive and become way more competitive. It’s a very, very competitive industry. Support now from the state that we’re getting from the major events really makes a difference — and it starts to level the playing field because, for several years now, for many years, other states have had access to state money.”

The Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund was created in 2023 as part of the law legalizing sports betting in North Carolina. It is funded from tax revenues paid by sports betting operators. Since the March 2024 launch of legal sports betting in the state, the fund has collected more than $40 million in tax revenue paid by the state’s eight authorized sports betting operators.

Operators pay an 18% tax on gross wagering revenue, as calculated by the North Carolina Lottery Commission as paid wagering revenue and promotional wagers minus canceled or voided wagers and money paid as winnings. Since the launch of legalized betting in the state, the operators have made more than $922 million in gross wagering revenue in North Carolina and paid nearly $166 million in state taxes.

The state’s Department of Commerce, which operates the events fund, granted more than $2 million to the Charlotte Sports Foundation and other local partners to help land the 2026 MLS All-Star Game. The groups can be reimbursed up to the grant amount by submitting qualified expenses.

“It’s a big deal for the state and for our region,” said Will Pitts, chief executive officer of the Charlotte Sports Foundation. “The economic impact will be significant. Obviously, the global visibility that the stage of the [MLS] All-Star Game provides is fantastic for our community.”

Seeking big events

It is the third grant for a major sporting event. 

The fund provided a $2-million grant to Winston-Salem for the NASCAR Clash race at Bowman Gray Stadium on Feb. 2 and a $1.65-million grant to Richmond County for the NASCAR Xfinity, ARCA and truck series races at Rockingham Speedway in April.

“Our state’s new Major Events Fund puts us in a stronger position to compete for these highly visible, top-tier events that draw people and their resources to our state,” Gov. Josh Stein said in a statement.

The state law says that the purpose is to “stimulate economic activity and to create new jobs within” North Carolina. To qualify for a grant, the event must be held no more than once a year and held at a sports facility that is home to a major professional franchise or hosts a NASCAR or PGA event.

College stadiums or venues such as Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill or Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham don’t currently qualify, something Dupree would like to see changed. Carter-Finley Stadium hosted the NHL’s Stadium Series game in February 2023.

Dupree said his association is eyeing bids for the NCAA basketball tournament regionals (men’s and women’s), NCAA wrestling championships and the NCAA Frozen Four for Lenovo Center in Raleigh. 

“Those are the kinds of things that would be ideal fits to apply for this funding to help our cause in terms of recruiting the events and also to help in terms of hosting the events,” Dupree said.

He said his group and the Carolina Hurricanes have expressed interest to the NHL in hosting the World Cup of Hockey in 2028.

Pitts’ group wants to bring the NBA All-Star Game back to Charlotte and put the city in position to Army-Navy and the NFL Draft, which has become a weeklong extravaganza since the league began moving it to different cities.

“Having this fund at the state level, from a North Carolina perspective, is a really big deal, and one that’s going to be very helpful for us in future endeavors,” Pitts said.

Competing with Texas

Dupree said nearly half of states provide money to help land major sporting events, including Florida, Texas, Virginia, South Carolina, Minnesota and Indiana. Texas’ Event Trust Funds program, which includes three separate funds, has distributed funds to nearly 1,000 sporting events over the last decade — from bike races to Wrestlemania and nearly everything in between.

“That’s been really important and vital to their efforts in recruiting some of the largest sporting events across the country, and they’ve obviously been very successful in doing so,” Pitts said of Texas. 

He added: “I look at the Texas fund and understand the impact that’s had and the size and profile of events they’ve secured through support of that fund, I think North Carolina would want to be similar to that.”

The bigger the event and potential audience, the greater the price tag.

“This is exciting news for North Carolina’s sports fans and economy, and it’s made possible because of a well-regulated sports wagering industry that plays by the rules and pays a reasonable tax rate,” the Sports Betting Alliance said in a statement. 

The group represents Bet 365, BetMGM, Draft Kings, Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel, all of which operate in North Carolina, and is opposed to increasing the 18% tax rate.

State lawmakers have proposed changing the distribution formula from sports betting tax revenue. The major events fund currently receives 30% of remaining proceeds after the first $8.4 million is distributed to various groups, including athletic departments at 13 UNC System schools. The fund has outgrown even the most optimistic expectations.

The universities, which don’t include UNC and NC State, have received more than $32 million since March 2024. The two ACC schools could be added to the distribution, if the House and Senate reach agreement on a budget.

The state Senate’s budget proposal, which would double the tax rate to 36%, would give the major events fund 20% of the remaining proceeds after the first $17 million in specific distributions. The House-passed budget proposal would give the major events fund a flat $10 million annually.

“This state is a major, major destination for sporting events, and I believe $10 million is not enough,” Dupree said. “If a percentage was implemented, rather than a cap, that would allow the pot to grow as the sports wagering revenue grows.”

 Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund

Current distribution (18% tax rate)

Up to $500,000 to Lottery Commission

$2 million to the state Department of Health and Human Services

$1 million to North Carolina Amateur Sports

$3.9 million ($300,000 each) to athletic departments at 13 UNC System schools (not UNC or NC State)$1 million to North Carolina Youth Outdoor Engagement Commission

Of remaining proceeds:

20% distributed equally to athletic departments at 13 UNC System schools (not UNC or NC State)

30% to North Carolina Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund50% to the general fund

Senate budget proposal (36% tax rate)

Up to $500,000 to Lottery Commission

$2 million to DHHS

$1 million to North Carolina Amateur Sports

$2 million ($500,000 each) to athletic departments at four UNC System schools that compete at DIvision II$6 million ($1 million each) to athletic departments at six UNC System schools that compete at Division I but don’t play football at the FBS level$4.5 million ($1.5 million each) to athletic departments at three UNC System schools that play football at the FBS level

$1 million to North Carolina Youth Outdoor Engagement Commission 

Of remaining proceeds:

20% divided equally to athletic departments at 13 UNC System schools included above (not UNC or NC State)10% to UNC athletic department

10% to NC State athletic department10% to Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund50% to general fund

House budget proposal (18% tax rate)

Up to $500,000 to Lottery Commission

$2 million to DHHS

$1 million to North Carolina Amateur Sports

$1.2 million ($300,000 each) to athletic departments at four UNC System schools that compete at Division II$6 million ($1 million each) to athletic departments at six UNC System schools that compete at DIvision I, but don’t play FBS football$3 million to the North Carolina Youth Engagement Commission

$10 million to the Major Events, Games, and Attractions Fund

Of remaining proceeds:

20% divided equally to the 10 UNC System schools included above

50% divided equally to the five UNC System schools that sponsor FBS football

30% to general fund