Louisiana justice committee greenlights betting bill as DFS faces local restrictions
Fantasy sports games will be restricted to casinos, racetracks and bars with video poker terminals
A Louisiana senate committee today greenlighted a bill to allow legal online and mobile betting at the state’s 20 land-based and riverboat casinos and racetracks.
The house’s criminal justice committee voted 11-6 in favour of Senator Danny Martiny’s bill, although it must still face a review from the conservative house budget committee before being heard by the Senate.
A separate committee voted yesterday to impose a 13% tax on net proceeds made from sports betting operations.
10% of tax funds will go towards funding early education programs and another 2% will be invested in the parishes where the casinos are located.
However, the committee also passed a bill restricting mobile fantasy sports games to specific over-21s establishments like casinos and bars that operate video poker terminals.
DFS was legalized in Louisiana back in November last year after being supported by an overwhelming majority.
The move is thought to be a way to restrict the likes of FanDuel and DraftKings in the state, with both having topped New Jersey’s betting revenues for March and April.
In November, Louisianans overwhelmingly voted to legalize daily fantasy sports. Now, some lawmakers want to reverse the results of the election and restrict fantasy sports to PHYSICAL LOCATIONS. Tell your lawmakers to respect the will of the voters!
— DraftKings (@DraftKings) May 11, 2019
DraftKings has been rallying against the restrictions and urged local users to speak out against them.
In Illinois, casino operators are lobbying for DFS operators to face a three-year penalty for operating illegally should legal sports betting come into force.