Baton Rouge’s gaming industry is quietly campaigning for a proposition on the Nov. 3 ballot that would allow each parish to decide whether they want to legalize sports betting on football games and other contests. However, they still have many questions they don’t expect to be answered until the next legislative session in the spring.
Generally, casino officials and lobbyists believe the odds of the proposal passing are tilted in their favor in East Baton Rouge, which in 2018 was among 47 of the state’s 64 parishes that voted to legalize online sports fantasy games for cash prizes.
The two biggest donors to Louisiana Wins, the group leading the push, are DraftKings and FanDuel, which have contributed more than half of the $2.05 million raised so far. Though to a lesser extent, local casinos are also contributing to the political action committee.
Kim Ginn, general manager of L’Auberge Casino and Hotel, says parent company Penn National Gaming—which donated $334,000 to Louisiana Wins—is “fully supporting the Nov. 3 ballot question as part of a broad coalition of gaming licensees in Louisiana,” which, according to campaign finance reports, also includes Caesars Entertainment, Boyd Gaming Corp. and BetMGM LLC.
Meanwhile, Belle of Baton Rouge General Manager Jim Rigot is optimistic the ballot item will be approved in EBR. However, he says it will be up to the Legislature to establish the rules of engagement, including the tax structure and specific rollout.
“For us, the big question is, will it be restricted to brick-and-mortar, or are they going to offer it to mobile users?” Rigot says, pointing to several models lawmakers might consider. “In New Jersey, they allow you to wager anywhere as long as you’re within the state borders, which they can monitor through a GPS tracking system. In Mississippi, you have to go into a casino to make a bet.”
Rigot expects the state will roll out sports betting in stages, at first offering it exclusively to bricks-and-mortar before eventually expanding it to mobile applications, following the New Jersey model—which he says is “only a matter of time” for Louisiana to embrace.
Officials have even more questions when it comes to the potential of sports wagering to go fully mobile.
While lobbyist Alton Ashy says the video poker industry doesn’t have an official position on the sports betting item, he notes concerns that the industry has over DraftKings and FanDuel wanting to make gaming fully mobile.
“That would be problematic for us,” Ashy says. “Our position is that if sports betting is supposed to drive foot traffic to local establishments, whether it’s a riverboat, truck stop, restaurant or bar, then somehow or another, those local establishments need to benefit from it—and not just from a tax revenue standpoint. We’re taking a wait-and-see approach.”
To see Business Report publisher Rolfe McCollister’s endorsements for the election, read his recent opinion piece here.
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