Louisiana Sports Betting: When Will the State Launch Online Sports Wagering?
Louisiana Sports Betting: When Will the State Launch Online Sports Wagering?
Louisiana is one of the next states in the United States that will be launching online sports betting. An exact date has yet to be announced for Louisiana sports betting but the hope is that Louisiana residents will be able to place wagers for Super Bowl LVI on February 13.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like it's going to happen anytime this month though. Ronnie Johns, the chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Commission, said it was "not accurate" to say that the launch for Louisiana sports betting will be happening in the next week or two. Instead, a February launch before the Super Bowl and way before March Madness sounds like the most likely scenario.
Johns would later go on to say that they are testing the technology and are waiting on the okay from the state police. There's an interesting wrinkle to the launch. The state has 64 parishes, similar to counties, and of those 64 just 55 of them voted to allow wagering.
So what the state needs to do is make it so that you're only allowed access to the only sportsbooks if you are in one of the 55 parishes where the law was approved. Naturally, this is part of the reason for the delay.
They've had success with in-person wagering though. Eight state-regulated sportsbooks accepted approximately $27.6 million in bets in November, which generated around $5.7 million in revenue for operators in the state.
Louisiana Sports Betting Available Sportsbooks
The following sportsbooks will be available once Louisiana sports betting launches in the next month:
When Did Louisiana Sports Betting Become Legal?
In June of 2021, Governor John Bel Edwards signed Louisiana's sports betting regulation into law. With this law, as many as 41 operators could enter the state with a launch at some point before the Super Bowl. This law also allows each of the 20 casinos and pari-mutuel horse tracks to partner up with two online operators each.
Louisiana Sports Betting In-Person Wagering
Since October 2021, in-person sports wagering has been legal. The first legal wager was at Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville.