Is Sports Betting Legal in Louisiana?

Update: Daily Fantasy Sports Betting Now Legal in Louisiana – Tuesday’s mid-term election initiatives provided reasons to cheer for the future of sports betting  in the state of Louisiana.  Louisiana citizens voted earlier this week to legalize daily fantasy sports.

Sports Betting in Louisiana – Betting on the Bayou may the title of some blues song somewhere, but it isn’t a catchphrase in the state of Louisiana. Senate Bill 266 did not pass and that will create a whole mess of problems when it comes to future legalization. Louisiana has casinos and has riverboat gambling, but Louisiana will not have sports betting for the foreseeable future.

Football is a big deal in Louisiana, with the native Saints and a huge presence in the SEC in Baton Rouge with the LSU Tigers, but betting on it within the borders will not happen anytime soon. There is a Harrah’s in New Orleans. There are riverboats on the Mississippi. There are race tracks and other brick-and-mortar facilities all ready to accept sports betting, but the state government is not.

In fairness to the state of Louisiana, at least a bill was put to a vote before the state legislature went on hiatus until the new year. In other states, betting bills were discussed and studies were commissioned, but both sides of the aisle went their separate ways for the summer before a substantive vote could take place. Those states will have to wait until 2019. Unfortunately, the failed bill could be more of a detriment for Louisiana than waiting to organize a better plan would have been. We’ll never know.

Recent Stories About Sports Betting

It didn’t take long for a vote to take place in Louisiana, but it was not the outcome Senator Danny Martiny wanted, as outlined by the News Star and Andrew Doak.

Martiny doubled down, as reported by WDSU NBC 6 in this report after the vote came in against his proposal.

Interestingly, the voters will get to decide on daily fantasy sports betting sites and apps in upcoming November election. Right now, that is not an option for the legalization of sports betting. But, hey, at least those DFS sites aren’t gambling, right?!

From the Times-Picayune, Governor John Bel Edwards would like to look more at sports betting, but the legislature now has to wait until next year. Furthermore, it has to be approved parish-by-parish in the state.

 

Forecast

Louisiana is truly one of the mysteries. At some point, it will likely go through, but how isolated it is will be something to watch. In terms of all the states entertaining the idea of legalized wagering, Louisiana seems the most complex, especially because the state constitution mandates that each parish has to accept rather than a statewide approval.

 

Neighboring States

Arkansas

Mississippi

Texas