24 NCAC 06A .0503         Promotional or Bonus Wagering

(a)  An Operator may conduct promotions or bonuses in accordance with this Rule. Procedures for the issuance, acceptance, and tracking of promotions or bonuses shall be defined in the Internal Controls.

(b)  An Operator shall maintain a record of promotions or bonuses related to Sports Wagering or Pari-Mutuel Wagering to facilitate the Commission's tracking of promotional or bonus activity, which shall address the:

(1)           unique identification for the promotion or bonus;

(2)           date and time the promotion or bonus was or is scheduled to be available;

(3)           current balance for promotional or bonus awards;

(4)           total amount of promotional or bonus awards issued;

(5)           total amount of promotional or bonus awards redeemed;

(6)           total amount of promotional or bonus awards expired;

(7)           total amount of promotional or bonus award adjustments;

(8)           current status of the promotion or bonus; and

(9)           date and time the promotion or bonus was or is scheduled to discontinue.

(c)  All promotion or bonus rules shall be full, accurate, concise, transparent, and shall not contain misleading information. Promotion or bonus rules shall be accessible by the Player and provide unambiguous notice of the:

(1)           date and time the promotion or bonus is active and expires;

(2)           rules of play;

(3)           nature and value of prizes or awards;

(4)           eligibility restrictions or limitations;

(5)           Wagering and redemption requirements, including limitations;

(6)           how the Player is notified when they have received an award;

(7)           order in which funds are used for Wagers;

(8)           eligible events or Wagers; and

(9)           cancellation requirements.

(d)  Promotions or bonuses shall not be described as:

(1)           "free" unless those promotions or bonuses are in fact free and without any cost to the Player. If the Player has to risk or lose their own money or if there are conditions attached to the Player's own money, the promotion or bonus rules shall disclose those terms and may not be described as free; or

(2)           "risk-free" if those promotions or bonuses require the Player to incur a loss or risk the Player's own money to use or withdraw Winnings from the purportedly risk-free Wager.

(e)  An Operator shall provide a clear and conspicuous method for a Player to cancel their participation in a promotion or bonus that uses restricted Wagering credits that cannot be cashed out until a Wagering requirement or other restrictions associated with the credits is met. The Operator's cancelation method shall include the following:

(1)           On a request for cancellation, the Operator shall inform the Player of the amount of unrestricted funds that will be returned after cancellation and the value of restricted Wagering credits that will be removed from the Wagering Account.

(2)           If a Player elects to proceed with cancellation, unrestricted funds remaining in a Player's Wagering Account shall be returned according to the rules of the applicable promotion or bonus.

(f)  Once a Player has met the terms of a promotion or bonus, an Operator shall not limit Winnings earned while participating in the promotion or bonus.

(g)  No promotion or bonus offer available to new Players may contain terms that delay full implementation of the ability to redeem the promotion or bonus for a period of longer than 30 Days, or require the Player to maintain an Account with the Operator for longer than 30 Days to be eligible for the promotion or bonus, regardless of the amount of Wagering in that period by the Player. Nothing this Paragraph shall prohibit a promotion or bonus offer that extends for a period of longer than 30 Days so long as such promotion or bonus is (i) available to all North Carolina Players that maintain an Account with the applicable Operator and (ii) not contingent upon the Player establishing a new Wagering Account.

History Note:        Authority G.S. 18C-114(a)(14);

Previously adopted as Rule 1E-003;

Eff. January 8, 2024;

Readopted Eff. March 27, 2024.