NC Esports Industry Grant

NC Esports Industry Grant

Backs esports event producers with rebates up to twenty-five percent of qualifying production expenses.

Eligibility · United States · US-NC

The NC Esports Industry Grant is administered by the NC Department of Commerce through SportsNC and provides financial rebates to esports event producers that hold qualifying events in North Carolina. The program was created by the NC General Assembly (S 105, with technical corrections under HB 334) to leverage the state's convention centers, arenas, and gaming community as competitive esports infrastructure. Rebates are set at up to 25% of qualified production expenses per event, with a program-wide annual cap of $5 million per fiscal year (July 1–June 30). Program guidelines were last updated June 3, 2022.

To qualify, an event organizer must spend at least $150,000 directly in North Carolina per event. There is no per-event award floor published, but the rebate is calculated on documented qualified production expenses. Both for-profit and nonprofit event producers are eligible; universities and individuals are excluded. Applications must be submitted at least 30 days before the event start date — this pre-event application requirement is a hard deadline, not a suggested target. All applications are submitted through SportsNC (sportsnc.com), not directly through the NC Commerce portal. The SportsNC liaison for esports grants is Amanda Baker, reachable at 919-447-7765 or amanda.baker@sportsnc.com.

The $5 million annual cap applies across all esports awards in a fiscal year; producers planning large events should engage SportsNC early to understand remaining fund availability. The program operates on a rolling per-event basis, meaning there is no single annual application window, but fiscal-year fund exhaustion can effectively close the program before June 30. To maximize the award, producers should document all NC-sourced production expenses including venue fees, local vendor contracts, staffing, and equipment rental, as the rebate percentage applies only to expenses traceable to in-state spending. Early engagement with SportsNC before venue contracts are signed ensures eligibility is confirmed before costs are committed.