No Appetite In Louisiana To Legalize iGaming: Control Board Chairman
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In Louisiana, there is no appetite to legalize iGaming during the current legislative session, says the state’s top gaming official.
“The industry is not solid behind it,” Ronnie Johns, Louisiana Gaming Control Board chairman, told Gambling.com on Friday. “The conservative nature of our Legislature would not be conductive to expanding new forms of gaming.”
This year’s legislative session began Monday, the first regular session under Gov. Jeff Landry, a Republican elected last fall. Landry succeeded term-limited Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards. In 2021, Edwards appointed Johns, a former GOP state senator, to the Gaming Control Board chairmanship.
The 2024 legislative session is set to end June 3 at the Capitol in Baton Rouge.
No Push To Expand Mobile Sports Betting Into Banned Parishes
As of Friday, no legislation had been introduced in Louisiana to legalize online casinos, known as iGaming, or to expand mobile sports betting into the nine parishes where it is banned, Johns said. In a 2020 public vote, mobile sports wagering was approved in 55 of 64 parishes.
“There is still time to file a bill on anything except taxes, so that window is open,” the chairman said.
Johns noted that two bills have been filed for referendums to allow for video poker in prohibited parishes. Those parishes are Allen and East Feliciana, according to the Louisiana State Legislature website.
Even with wagering banned in some parishes, Louisiana is still one of the most active gaming states in the U.S.
According to recent figures from the Gaming Control Board, the state has 14 riverboat casinos (with some moving ashore), a land-based casino in New Orleans, retail sportsbooks and kiosks inside casinos, nine mobile sportsbooks, four horse tracks with slots and 11,849 video slot devices in 1,395 locations.
Online Casino Gaming Slow To Expand Nationwide
Currently, some form of online casino gaming is legal is seven states, with legislation under consideration in eight more states, according to LexisNexis. Online casino games include slots, craps, blackjack, roulette and more.
Across the country, sports betting is legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., including in most Louisiana parishes.
In states with legal iGaming and sports betting, iGaming usually far outperforms sports betting in terms of revenue generated. However, some industry executives have expressed concern that customers won’t visit land-based casinos and spend money on amenities such as food and entertainment if they can download an app and gamble from anywhere.
Proponents of iGaming contend it doesn’t cannibalize land-based casinos, but instead boosts interest in in-person games, and that incentives such as free or reduced-price food can be used to encourage online bettors to visit land-based resorts.
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