Louisiana could soon be joining Montana which last week became the USA’s ninth state to enjoy legal sports betting.
A pro-betting bill is on the move in this southern state. Its Senate has approved a measure giving its citizens a vote in the matter.
If they give it the thumbs up, the bill will be sent to Governor John Bel Edwards for final ratification.
And if another recent vote by Louisiana residents means anything, the vote should go the way of sports betting.
Last November a Louisiana public ballot heavily favored welcoming daily fantasy sports gambling and its major operators DraftKings and FanDuel.
Given the green light, Louisiana will join sportsbook spearhead New Jersey and at least eight other states enjoying legal betting. These are Nevada, Mississippi, Montana, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, and New Mexico.
Sportsbooks have never been banned in Nevada, but the PASPA law of 1992 saw them outlawed everywhere else
New Jersey led court battle to oust PAPSA law
In May 2018, New Jersey successfully led a Supreme Court battle to overturn PASPA. A few weeks later it became the first previously banned state to legalize sportsbooks. Today it has 14 and is getting closer and closer to catching long-standing, sports-wagering leader Nevada.
In its first 10 months of sports betting in New Jersey, it’s fledgling new industry attracted some $2.2 billion in handle.
Drawing betting handle away from illegal, offshore operators and neighboring Mississippi is one of the prime reasons behind Martiny’s bill.
He told WSN: “We get not one penny from the offshore sites. We get not one penny from Mississippi. We get not one penny from their bookies.”
The same reason was partly responsible for Montana’s conversion to sports betting last week. It’s also why Tennessee is set to join the party and other states are looking at it with serious intentions.
Louisiana’s potential sports wagering industry plans to launch online and at its four race tracks and 16 casinos.
