KINGS MOUNTIAN, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) – For now, it is a couple of dozen kiosks, but this represents Charlotte’s closest link to legal sports betting in North Carolina.

Located 30 minutes west of Charlotte, the Catawba Two Kings Casino opened its sportsbook lounge, allowing sports betting on-site in the fall of 2022.

Paul Stafford, who lives in Lincoln County, he’s betting baseball and said it is about time it came to the area.

“You have to look at the pitching, the weather, and so forth,” he said. “Before betting came to North Carolina, I had to go to West Virginia or somewhere else in the United States that had sports betting. It makes it convenient to come in and spend $10 or $20, and, if you get lucky, you can sometimes parlay that into a couple hundred dollars.”

The Catawba Two Kings Casino, Harrah’s Cherokee Casino, and Harrah’s Cherokee Valley Casino are the only legal spots currently for sports betting in the state, which is only legally allowed to happen on-site.

This means a potential boom for Kings Mountain.

“I figure, within the next ten years, this is going to be in the top 5 resorts in the state of North Carolina,” said Kings Mountain Mayor Scott Neisler.

While the building continues, development plans are being met with some hesitancy from nearby residents.

Two land owners told us off the record that developers have approached them to buy their homes and land but said that the offers are not enough for them to move into the current real estate market.

Construction around the casino area continues, mainly centered on infrastructure work.