Online sportsbooks can legally begin taking bets in Louisiana on Friday morning, joining their brick-and-mortar cousins that are currently accepting wagers from gamers in the Pelican State.
" [Louisiana Gaming Control Board] Chairman Ronnie Johns announces that presently eligible sports wagering operators will be authorized to accept mobile bets as early as 8:00 a.m. Friday early morning," a news release said Wednesday. "The remaining mobile sports betting operators remain in the process of conference statutory and regulatory requirements and will be approved once those requirements are satisfied."
One operator that prepares on taking wagers on Friday in Louisiana is Caesars Sportsbook. The bookie's owner, Nevada-based Caesars Entertainment Inc., operates gambling establishments in the southern state that already provide retail sports betting on their residential or commercial properties.
"We've seen tremendous interest in legal sports wagering since the opening of our Caesars Sportsbooks at Harrah's New Orleans and Horseshoe Bossier City," said Eric Hession, co-president of Caesars Digital, in a declaration. "Come Friday, through the app, we'll be able to provide a lot more chances to experience the adventure of sports betting."
Other mobile sportsbooks expected to go reside in Louisiana on Friday include BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.
More broadly, however, Wednesday's news will include another state to the growing map of places where online sports betting is legal and functional in the U.S. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board's announcement also implies that online sports betting will be licensed in time for the next round of the National Football League's playoffs and the Super Bowl afterwards.
Prep work
Voters in 55 of Louisiana's 64 parishes (similar to counties) enacted favor of permitting sports betting back in November 2020. Lawmakers then passed legislation last year allowing the video gaming control board to provide up to 20 licenses for in-person and online sportsbooks, with preference provided towards the state's casinos and live horse-racing tracks. The Louisiana Lottery Corp. is allowed to take sports wagers by means of website, mobile app, and retail kiosks too.
In-person sports wagering has actually already started at numerous casinos across Louisiana. Online betting, however, has actually required a bit more effort and time from regulators to guarantee things run efficiently and in accordance with the state's sports-betting guidelines.
Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns informed Covers just recently that regulators were getting near presenting online sports betting. At the time, however, Johns stated that they desired to make sure a great experience for wagerers and couldn't ensure mobile betting would be up and running in time for the Super Bowl. That is no longer the case.
While the primary licensees in Louisiana will be the owners and operators of brick-and-mortar centers, the consumer-facing brand names for mobile wagering will be a few of the biggest names in the organization. That's due to the fact that licensees can likewise partner with up to 2 platform service providers for online sports wagering, each of which are permitted to use their own separately branded site and mobile app in the state.
Some sportsbook operators had begun pre-registration efforts ahead of the main launch of online wagering. For example, Caesars Entertainment revealed in October that its Caesars Sportsbook app was officially available for gamblers to download, but just so they could register, deposit funds, and start examining odds. WynnBET announced on Wednesday that it was also enabling pre-registration and deposits in the state.
