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Today, the Louisiana Senate approved minor amendments made to Senate Bill 247 by the state House on June 4, 2021. Now, the bill to regulate Louisiana sports betting heads to the desk of Governor John Bel Edwards for his signature.
The governor now has 20 days to sign. If he doesn’t veto the bill or sign it within those 20 days, SB 247 passes without his signature.
The passage today comes after Louisiana Senators voted to reject amendments made by the state House. However, the Senators voted the other way just two days later.
Louisiana Sports Betting Before The End Of The 2021 NFL Season?
That’s the hope. Governor Edwards signed companion legislation, House Bill 697, into law on June 4, 2021. Given today’s passage of SB 247, things are moving along at a nice clip.
In fact, the sponsor of SB 247, Senate President Page Cortez, said, “We would hope that [sports betting] would be available to the public sometime before the end of the NFL season. We don’t know that for sure, but that’s what we anticipate.”
That would mean legal Louisiana online sports betting in time for the 2022 Super Bowl LVI. Fans of BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel could be betting online at one of these sports betting apps.
What Louisiana Sports Betting Will Look Like
Louisiana voters in each of the state’s 64 parishes voted yes or no on sports betting. While 55 voted yes, the rest voted no, which means sports betting will not be allowed in nine of 64 parishes. Online sportsbook apps will restrict betting in those parishes through geofencing, a technology that’s used in all states with legal online sports betting.
Upon passage of SB 247, Louisiana regulators will begin the process of issuing up to 20 sports betting licenses to riverboat casinos, racetracks, and land-based casinos across the 55 parishes that legalized it. Each license allows for up to two mobile sports betting platforms as well, so Louisianans may have as many as 40 different options before the next Super Bowl.
If you’re located in one of the nine parishes that voted against sports betting, you can simply travel to one that voted yes and bet legally. The only requirement is that you’re at least 21 years old and physically located in one of the 55 sports betting parishes.
