After more than a two year wait, you can finally place a sport bet in Louisiana, well sort of.
Fantasy sports powerhouse DraftKings was granted the first license in the state on the 16th of July.
“As DraftKings continues our nationwide expansion, we welcome Louisiana to the DraftKings family, an area rich with culture, heritage, and diehard fanbases in both college and professional sports,” said DraftKings CFO and co-founder Matt Kalish via press release. “
First Across the Finish Line
Draftkings score an outsized coup here, by handily beating their competition to the first license in the all important run up to Pro Football Preseason. And while Louisiana prioritized legalizing Fantasy sports first ahead of actual legal sports betting, there can be little doubt that having a large database of die hard fans can only be a positive when Louisiana finally does legalize sports betting through either the Louisiana Lottery Commission or any of the State’s twenty licensed casinos sometime in the next few months.
Perennial competitor FanDuel apparently had trouble getting all the i’s dotted and t’s crossed on its application in the middle of the Covid pandemic, and no word on how long it may be before we see approval. One would have to assume they are moving heaven and earth to finalize their paperwork before the start of SEC football, and the NFL regular season.
Also no timeline on other Daily Fantasy Sports operators like Monkey Knife Fight, Battlefy, BET365, and NiceCactus gaining Louisian approval to offer legal fantasy sports bets.
Still On Track
Rumors swirled in early June that with the resignation of Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Mike Noel that the board would be bogged down as they attempted to finalize Sport Betting rules and regulations that would allow for Louisianans to place legal sports bets by this fall.
But Chris Hebert, the Gaming Division Director struck back at those rumors in early July, saying that they were still holding weekly meetings and moving forward with finalizing regulations. Then in late July, Governor Edwards appointed Sen. Ronnie Johns to the post, which should keep the timeline for completion of the project on track for early this fall.
Once completed and signed, residents in the 55 of the 64 Parishes that voted in November 2020 to legalize sports betting will finally be able to place a legal sports bet. Caesar’s land based casino in New Orleans, along with the state’s four racinos,and 15 riverboat casinos will be given two skins each, for online and in person sports betting.
The Louisiana Lottery commission will also receive a license and will station kiosks in Class A liquor license holders in legal parishes that request one, taking a 10% fee.
41 skins in total should mean that we will see some of the big boys like BetMGM, Caesar’s, PointsBet, and BarStool all legal in Louisiana.
Down The Stretch
With Draftkings receiving the first license for Fantasy Sports and the appointment of a new Gaming Control Board chairman who’s made it very clear that he understands the importance of getting this project completed before the Sain’t first home kickoff, it looks like all the pieces are in position to finally bring legal sports betting to the Bayou State in the very near future.