Gambling.com Group Welcomes Legalization of Online Sports Betting In North Carolina

Gambling.com Group Limited (Nasdaq: GAMB) (“Gambling.com Group” or the “Group”), a leading provider of player acquisition services for the regulated global online gambling industry, today noted the signing of House Bill 347 to allow legal, regulated online sports betting across North Carolina – becoming the 28th state to do so. HB 347 requires the state lottery to publish online sports betting regulations by January 8, 2024, and to authorize sports betting operators to start accepting wagers within one year from today.

The legalization of online sports betting in North Carolina is a highlight for Gambling.com Group’s co-founders and Charlotte natives, Charles Gillespie and Kevin McCrystle, who during their time at UNC Chapel Hill started the business that would become Gambling.com Group in 2006. With no regulated online gambling in the United States at the time, Gillespie and McCrystle left North Carolina to build a fully licensed performance marketing business focused on online gambling with the regulated United Kingdom and Ireland markets as the Group’s initial core. In 2018, the Group turned its focus back to the United States after the Supreme Court invalidated the federal prohibition on sports betting. In the years since, Gambling.com Group’s business in North America has grown from under $2 million in revenue in 2019 to nearly $36 million for the 2022 full-year period.

Today, the Group has its primary U.S. office in Charlotte, which the Charlotte Business Journal described as one of the “Best Places to Work” in 2022. In his role of Chief Operating Officer, Mr. McCrystle is now once again based in Charlotte and leads the local NC team in addition to overseeing the Group’s global operations, which employ over 400 full-time employees and contractors.

Charles Gillespie, Chief Executive Officer, said, “Kevin and I started our journey to build the pre-eminent online gambling affiliate operator in 2006 from an idea that formed in a dorm room in Chapel Hill, and which quickly led us abroad to find regulated markets where we could apply our expertise and passion. Our journey to building one of the world’s leading online gambling performance marketing companies has now come full circle with the legalization of online sports betting in North Carolina. I applaud and congratulate the State’s General Assembly leaders and Governor Cooper for making regulated online sports betting a reality. The next generation of North Carolina entrepreneurs will be able to dive straight into opportunities in this exciting industry.”