The path to legal sports betting in Louisiana has been much more challenging than anticipated, and there have been some major speed bumps along the way. We finally have a new launch date, though, after the state has spent the last few weeks trying to regroup.
The Louisiana Gaming Control Board has been holding emergency meetings to try and get this industry up and running. Legal sportsbooks will be available on Monday, November 1. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board recently met with the Louisiana State Police to come up with this state.
The state police are responsible for reviewing all of the license applications coming in. This process has taken much longer than expected as the state police were dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
The first significant delay came in releasing the official sports betting rules and regulations, but those have since been finalized. Louisiana is also a state that should become a competitive sports betting industry, and it has been flooded with applicants.
Twenty sports betting licenses will be available in Louisiana, and all of the casinos and racinos can apply. According to the latest report, 13 of those properties have already applied.
Paragon Casino First to Launch
Sports betting is technically already available in the state of Louisiana, but only on a limited basis. The Paragon Casino has started to accept wagers on sporting events through a partnership with Betfred.
The Paragon Casino is a tribal casino, and therefore, it does not need to go through the entire application process. When the official sports betting regulation was passed, it gave Paragon and other tribal casinos to offer wagers on sporting events.
Louisiana will also have exciting sports betting industry when it is entirely up and running as this new form has not been approved state-wide. Each parish decided on legal sports betting, and some parishes voted to keep it illegal.
Online sports betting has been approved, but those online sportsbooks can only be accessed in certain parts of the state. Because of this, geolocation services must be enabled at all times so that the sites can verify your location.
Each of the 20 retail locations is eligible to offer two online skins, which will increase the number of online sportsbooks that can launch. Online sportsbooks won’t launch until some point in 2022, but a firm date has not yet been established.
Caesars Accepting New Registration
Louisiana is expected to receive applications from all of the biggest names in the US sports betting industry, and some operators have already gained access into the state. DraftKings and FanDuel are two of the biggest online sportsbooks in the market, but it could be Caesars that jumps out to a lead in Louisiana.
Caesars has struck a deal with the New Orleans Saints that will give the company naming rights to the Superdome. This is the first time a sports betting company has earned naming rights to a stadium in the National Football League.
Even though the Caesars Sportsbook app might not be available for a couple more months, the operator is already allowing new customers to sign up for a new account. Not only that, but Caesars is giving new customers $100 just for registering, and more bonuses will be available upon launch.
Caesars might be the first online sportsbook to offer a pre-registration bonus, but other sportsbooks are expected to follow suit.