LOUISIANA MOBILE SPORTS BETTING SHOULD BE COMING IN 2022

The future of Louisiana sports betting has gotten a little clearer thanks to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board’s December meeting. The Louisiana State Police gave an update on licensing a few days ago. Prior to that, a report on gaming revenue gave some insight into the first month of Louisiana sports betting.

In November, eight casinos reported $27.6 million in retail sports bets, with $5.7 million in revenue generated by sportsbooks. This figure also takes into account two casinos that opened on October 31st. The other six sportsbooks that were included opened up throughout the month of November, gradually.

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns indicated his excitement as to this Louisiana sports betting growth. He stated he did not believe the legislature thought this growth could happen this quickly. He is happy with the success and smooth process that the rollout of Louisiana sports betting has been able to achieve.

However, at this time, there is not a locked-in timeline for the launch of Louisiana online sports betting. But, Chairman Johns does hope that Louisiana mobile sports betting could launch within the next month, in January.

As stated before, the revenue numbers from November included numbers from October 31st, for the Horseshoe Casino and for Harrah’s New Orleans. These were the first two retail sportsbooks to launch in Louisiana. These are both properties from Caesars Sportsbook. Caesars is looking to grab a large share of the Louisiana sports betting market.

In turn, Penn National Gaming was also able to launch several sportsbooks last month in November. These were L’Auberge Casino Baton Rouge, L’Auberge Casino Lake Charles, Boomtown Casino Bossier City, Boomtown Casino New Orleans, and Margaritaville.

In early November, the DraftKings Sportsbook at the Golden Nugget Casino in Lake Charles also launched. And, five Boyd Gaming casinos were also approved to launch retail sportsbooks in early December.

There are twenty Louisiana sports betting licences available in the state for racetracks and commercial casinos as dictated by Louisiana sports betting legislation. All of them with the exception of one have submitted their licence applications while the final one is pending. This information is according to a report by Major Chuck McNeal of the Louisiana State Police.

With all of the twenty possible applicants submitting their applications by the end of the year, a competitive bidding process for outstanding licences will not take place. In the legislation, the Louisiana Lottery was also awarded a licence, with its plan likely to be announced during the first quarter of 2022.

Chairman Johns has signed off on thirteen licences for retail sportsbooks at this time. He is expected to sign the remaining licences in the next few weeks. Plus, with mobile sports betting looking to launch in the state by January 2022, that is a lot of activity in the Louisiana sports betting market.

At this time, the Louisiana State Police are reviewing internal controls for Louisiana mobile sports betting. This is for the thirteen entities that have already been approved for Louisiana sports betting licenses. But, a timeframe for this review has not been released. However, the Louisiana State Police Major did indicate he understood the magnitude of this review and its necessity to finish in a timely manner.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert. You can learn more about our author's expertise here.