Voters Allowed Regulators To Decide About Louisiana Sports Betting
After going through a tiring and long battle between the State Senate and the State House of Louisiana, voters were given a chance in the year 2020 to vote on the regularization of sports betting in the districts.
The ballot did not mention anything about the decision of inclusion or extrusion of sports gambling and, hence gave full authorization to the regulatory bodies to decide the state’s sports betting fate.
After the Supreme Court decision that lowered the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 as unconstitutional, Louisiana has become a part of one of those states in the Union that have now legalized sports wagering.
The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act was prohibiting states to legalize sports betting in their vicinity, now states have full control.
What happened in the November 2020 Election?
The ballot of November 2020 posed a simple question to each voter if they would like to legalize sports wagering within their territory.
The council took a vote and 55 out of 64 parishes voted in favor of legalizing sports wagering in the states.
The voting also took place to decide whether the regulation should be given to the Louisiana Gaming Control Board. Now, the board holds all the power to make the future decision of sports betting in the elected parishes that have chosen to make sports betting legal in the state.
When does the Louisiana Sports Betting launch?
Many congressmen, women, and experts are trying their best to launch sports wagering in the state during late 2021. But, due to the challenges faced by the pandemic, the state might decide much more realistic dates that will benefit both the state government and people.
However, the state might launch sports betting in 2022 when the country recovers from the roaring pandemic and restrictions ease. Extending the launch date to next year will provide the Gaming Control Board adequate time to decide rules, regulations, overseeing bodies, and license hand-out dates.
The biggest dilemma in everyone’s mind is whether the state will legalize online sports wagering. The majority of states have been benefiting from the revenues generated from online sports wagering and the fact is, online sports betting is the major source to bring big bucks to the state’s economy.
If the Louisiana state Government wants to recover the revenue generated from illegal sports betting, then finding possible ways to bring online sports wagering in the state will be a tough task, and this might happen in the year 2022.
Timeline of Louisiana Legal Sports Betting
In the year 2018, SCOTUS put up a law that bans all sports betting activities in the United States. This allows states to make their own decision on sports betting in their arena.
In March 2019, a bill was proposed by the House for Daily Fantasy Sports. This helped to set the groundwork for sports betting in the state.
In June 2019, the first try for the gambling law and fantasy sport fell short. An attempt to include sports betting together in the bill of DFS failed in the state’s legislature.
In March 2020, a new sports wagering bill was proposed in the House which held a much more promising outcome because of the new faces added in the legislature.
In May 2020, the majority of the House members voted in favor of legalizing sports wagering in the state, and the State Senate passed the bill two weeks later. The bill allowed ballot measures asking every parish if they would like to legalize sports betting.
In November 2020, 55 out of 64 voters voted in favor of sports betting allowing it to launch in various locations. The majority of votes in favor of sports betting also provided the Louisiana Gaming Control Board authority to regulate sports gambling.