Louisiana Governor Signs Final Sports Betting Bills Into Law

• Governor John Bel Edwards signed SB 247 the regulatory bill, and SB 142 the appropriations bill for sports betting in Louisiana into law.
• The bills have been sent to the Department of Interior for federal approval.
• HB 697 the tax bill was signed earlier and is still awaiting federal approval.

BATON ROUGE, La. – Sports betting in Louisiana is progressing at a steady pace, with the final two sports betting bills officially being signed into law by Governor John Bel Edwards.

All three bills that make up the Louisiana sports betting framework are now awaiting federal approval at the Department of Interior.

The goal for Louisiana is to have the market launch before the 2021 NFL season, the goal for many markets launching legal sports betting in 2021.

Louisiana Sports Betting Incoming

HB 2967, the tax bill was signed into law earlier in the summer and is still awaiting federal approval. The regulatory bill SB 247 and the appropriations bill SB 142 are the newest bills signed by Gov. Edwards.

“SB247 fulfills the wishes of the citizens in the 55 parishes that approved the referendum last fall to allow sports wagering and SB142 will help direct funding derived from this activity to early childhood education,” said Page Cortez, Senate President.

Once the market launches, 20 sports betting licenses will be allowed to be granted to the 20 local casino operations. These licenses grant one retail sportsbook and a maximum of two online skins. This means Louisiana can see up to 40 mobile sportsbooks in the market.

Likely operators to launch in Louisiana immediately would be Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Penn National. All of these sports betting entities contributed to the Louisiana Wins Campaign to promote sports betting in the state.

Additionally, Boyd Gaming, Caesars Entertainment, and Penn National all have casinos in Louisiana and are very likely to be granted sports betting licenses.

Additionally, the local lottery is likely to have its own mobile sportsbook through Intralot as an existing partnership is in place.

There will be a lot of options in Louisiana once the sports betting market officially launches.

News tags: Baton Rouge | HB 697 | John Bel Edwards | Louisiana | New Orleans | Page Cortez | Rick Ward III | SB 142 | SB 247