- The Louisiana Gaming Control Board sent a letter to licensed sports betting sites in the state stating that it views sports prediction markets as illegal.
- In the letter, the board stated that licensed operators who are partnered with prediction services may have their licenses rescinded.
- Based on legal precedents in other states, it is currently unlikely that the LGCB will be able to enforce its view that prediction markets are legal.
BATON ROUGE, La. – The Louisiana Gaming Control Board sent a letter last week to licensed sports betting providers in the state that the board views sports event contracts, such as those available at Kalshi and Polymarket, as illegal.
In the letter, which was obtained by iGB, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) stated that licensed providers in the state who partner with platforms that offer sports event contracts may be at risk of losing their license in the state.
These partnerships between LGCB-certified sports betting sites that accept Louisiana residents and sports event contract providers have become increasingly common. Some of the notable partnerships to offer contract-based sports betting that is illegal in the eyes of the LGCB include:
- FanDuel’s partnership with CME Group
- DraftKings’ ownership of Railbird (the company recently purchased it, instead of partnering with it)
- Fanatics’ partnership with Crypto.com
Given the view of the Louisiana Gaming Control Board on those partnerships, and how the letter mentions that offering contract-based sports betting may cause the LGCB to revoke their sportsbook licenses.
That may not be an enforceable option, though, as prediction market sports betting providers have survived lawsuits in more than 20 combined states with legal online sports betting and without.
Until a precedent is set that gaming control boards at the state level can restrict event contract providers from offering legal sports betting, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board may not be able to act on its threat to pull licenses.
