Louisiana Sports Betting Passes In 55 Parishes, Includes New Orleans

• A majority of Louisiana parishes have approved of sports betting in their area as Louisiana is the first to ask for local approval rather than statewide.
• 55 parishes have approved sports betting and this will allow Louisiana to keep the money that residents were spending in other state’s sports betting markets.
• The state is on track to be able to offer sports betting by the end of 2021 or the start of 2022.

BATON ROUGE, La. – It was reported on Election night that voters have decided to bring legalized Louisiana sports betting platforms to most parishes around the state for all sports fans and gamblers.

With 55 out of 64 parishes approving of sports wagering, lawmakers in the state can now begin to draft rules and regulations that are needed to start the process of implementing and launching platforms to bet on sports.

The proposed bill passed in popular parishes such as East Baton Rouge with 68%, Orleans with 76%, Jefferson with 76%, and St. Bernard with 77% approval.

As votes were being counted on Election night, legal sports betting advocates were excited for the potential to not only help the state by keeping the money that is filtered to Mississippi’s sports betting market but also financing industries in Louisiana.

“There are still a lot of votes to be counted, but voters are sending a resounding message on sports wagering,” said Richard Carbo, a consultant for the group behind the effort, Louisiana Wins. “This proposition is on track to outperform the 2018 ballot initiative to include more parishes and a higher percentage of the vote statewide. “Very soon, parishes across the state will see the benefits of sports wagering, and we can begin to invest in priorities like infrastructure and education.”

Louisiana is the first state to ask its voters to approve of sports wagering on a local level rather than a statewide level. It was predicted that those parishes with one or more casinos in the area would approve because that is where the sportsbooks will likely be located.

The state has over 20 casinos but regulated gambling has always been controversial in much of that state which is why the 2019 sports betting legislation was unsuccessful. There are still some issues remaining from the failed attempt but this year’s voter approval will make a clear path to legal sports betting in Louisiana.

Lawmakers will have to figure out if the operation of online and mobile sports betting will be launched and the entire sports betting industry will not likely be taking wagers until the second half of 2021 or the beginning of 2022.

News tags: East Baton Rouge | Jefferson | Louisiana | Orleans | Richard Carbo | St. Bernard