When Will Louisiana Online Sports Betting Launch?
Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. Pictured: Louisiana State Capitol.
Louisiana's online sports betting launch is right around the corner.
While an exact date has not been announced, there is hope that bettors in the Pelican State will be able to start placing online wagers before Super Bowl LVI in February.
Ronnie Johns, chairman of the Louisiana Gaming Commission, told the Monroe News-Star that "it's definitely not accurate" to say the state will launch betting in the next week or two. His goal is to launch ahead of the Super Bowl on Feb. 13.
The 2022 NFL Playoffs start this weekend, one week after New York's historic online sports betting launch.
A launch date during the NFL playoffs, followed by the Super Bowl and the NCAA's March Madness men's basketball tournament — two of the most popular sports betting events for bettors across the country — would prove to be timely for the state as it looks to join Tennessee and Virginia as the only southern states to offer legal online sports betting.
Here are the six approved sportsbooks that will be a part of Louisiana's mobile sports betting launch:
Gov. John Bel Edwards signed Louisiana’s sports betting regulation bill into law in June 2021, allowing as many as 41 mobile operators to enter the state with the first possibly launching during the end of the NFL season. The bill allows each of the state’s 20 combined casinos and pari-mutuel horse tracks to partner with two online operators apiece.
Louisiana is the first state to approve mobile sports betting on a county-by-county (or parish-by-parish, as they're called in Louisiana) basis. Bettors can only wager from any approved parish, which includes those around Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport and most other population centers.
Louisiana has offered in-person sports betting since October 2021 when Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville accepted the state’s first legal wager at its Betfred sportsbook.
For further updates on Louisiana and other states that will soon legalize online sports betting in 2022 and beyond, check out our legalization tracker.
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