Louisiana has successful and long-established (however, quite separate) sports and gambling industries. On the sports side, Louisiana is home to NFL, NBA franchises and several of the biggest college football programs in the nation.
The strength of sports and gambling has led to Louisiana entering the legal world environment of betting on sports fray in March of 2018 with the introduction of a bill into the State Legislature. The bill has proposed legalizing sports betting at four of the state’s live horse racing facilities.
The bill calls for a referendum in each of the parishes in which sports betting would take place, as required by the Louisiana Constitution for any expansion of gambling. If the voters of each parish approve, race courses in all four parishes would be permitted to begin taking wagers on all manner of sports.
Of course, since May 2018 and the lifting of the Federal ban on sports betting by the U.S. Supreme Court, sports betting has now been handed back to each state for action.
Other bills (S 130 and H 357) have since been introduced to the Louisiana State Legislature looking to legalize sports betting at Louisiana’s commercial, tribal and riverboat casinos, and along with it, legalize DFS sites.
Given a successful state wide vote for sports betting in November 2020, it is thought that sports wagering will be a reality in Louisiana before the start of 2021/22 NFL season pending;
- Louisiana’s State Governor and lawmakers now agree on the licensing and tax laws during the State Legislative season beginning in January 2021 and;
- The licensing and regulatory laws will need to pass a two-thirds state senate majority and be signed off on by the State Governor, presumably sometime in 2021.