Sports Betting in Louisiana Most Likely Won’t be Online When Football Kicks Off

Legal sports betting in Louisiana might not be possible before the start of the football season as lawmakers hoped when they voted to legalize sports wagering.  Director of Louisiana Casino Association Wade Duty says the Gaming Control Board must finalize the rules and issue licenses and they do not have a chairman at the moment.

“But as those rule drafts come together and other drafts of how the framework is going to actually be a nuts-and-bolts implementation that’s when executive decisions will need to be made on the regulatory side,” said Duty.

The Gaming Control Board is not expected to meet again until July 15^th, but Duty said the Governor’s office has indicated they wish to fill the chair spot sooner than later. In spite of that Duty said there are several other factors that must be completed before sports wagering is online.

“You still have the application process, the background checks, and then also state police will want to do some confirmations of geofencing, and other regulatory concerns, surveillance coverage, and access control and those kinds of things,” said Duty.

Duty said while a fall timeline is still likely for sports betting, realistically it won’t be until after college football kicks off.

“I know there’s an expectation of well we passed the law so where’s the sports betting? But as you see there is lots of other work that has to be accomplished to bring this online,” said Duty.

Lake Charles Republican Senator Ronnie Johns is said to be one of the contenders for the post.