Louisiana Takes Sports Betting Legislation Down To The Wire

Louisiana has two bills for their sports betting market that need approvals and one day left in the 2021 session to get it done.
Each piece of legislation needs approval from the Senate.
Louisiana will tie up these loose ends and approve sports gaming in the state as they wish to launch by the 2021 NFL season.

BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana State Legislature has two bills regarding sports betting that still need to be approved with one day left in the 2021 session. On Tuesday, the Senate voted against the amendments made by the House for Senate Bill 247 that would provide the foundation for the sports wagering industry in the state. The vote came in at 36 NAYS and 0 YEAS, which led the bill to be sent to a Senate Conference Hearing on Wednesday.

What’s Happening In Louisiana?

Governor John Bel Edwards signed House Bill 697 on Friday that puts a 10% tax on all GGR from the sports gaming market’s land-based venues and a 15% tax on their mobile sportsbooks. This bill, now turned law, requires a $250,000 application fee for an operating license and a $500,000 renewal fee every five years from each platform in the 55 of 64 parishes with sports wagering.

The lottery will also get to have retail and mobile sportsbooks under this new law which is now known as Act No. 80.

Senate Bill 142 is the legislation that says where the money from the sports wagering industry will go. Over 60% will go to the Louisiana General Fund with 20% going to the Louisiana Early Education Fund. This bill passed in the Senate last week and on Wednesday it passed in the House with a third reading vote of 94 YEAS and 8 NAYS. It will move to the Senate for a second and final vote due to the amendments that were made while in the House.

The big bill in question is Senate Bill 247. This will need to be passed by the Senate within the next day for regulated sports betting to launch in Louisiana in time for the 2021 NFL season. Those involved with the legislation have been left to wonder if allowing Harrah’s to take wagers on horse races was the amendment that caused the rejection, although horse race betting is already allowed at riverboat casinos in the state.

All In A Day’s Work

The Senate Conference will need to agree on the sports betting market for Louisiana with LA SB 247 as it’s the only legislation on the table.

When the session adjourns on Thursday, a final approval should be reached. At this point in time, a regulated sports wagering industry is coming to Louisiana in 2021 with 20 land-based sportsbooks, retail locations through lottery terminals for sports betting and 41 mobile applications to wager on sports happening all in a day’s work.

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Christina Monroe

Christina has been writing for as long as she can remember and does dedicated research on the newly regulated sports betting market. She comes from a family of sports lovers that engage in friendly bets from time to time. During the winter months, you can find Christina baking cookies and beating the entire staff at Mario Kart…the N64 version of course.