Louisiana launches its first legal online sportsbooks Friday, more than a year after voters in 55 of the state’s 64 parishes approved wagering. Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chair Ronnie Johns, who spent decades shaping the state’s gaming policy as a lawmaker, talked to Wagers.com about the process behind implementing mobile wagering, the state’s retail betting launch and what comes next in the latest state to take legal online sports bets.
You spent more than two decades in the Louisiana legislature where you became a go-to policymaker for gaming legislation before becoming Gaming Control Board Chair a few months ago. What have you learned as a regulator that you might not have seen as a lawmaker?
“I told some of my legislative friends the other day, ‘you know, for all these years we sat there and we passed bills and we made policy and all that, we didn’t tell the regulators how to do it right. Just go do it.’ With sports betting, people think you can flip a switch and it’s there. Well, I’ve come to the realization that there’s a whole different ballgame to all of this when you’re trying to figure out ways to be in compliance with the legislation, and then actually doing it.”
Every state has a different regulatory and legal structure for online sports betting. In Louisiana, a specific group of brick-and-mortar gaming facilities are allowed two online sports betting partners or “skins,” apiece. What are the entities that are eligible for online sports betting and what does the process look like for licensure?
“We allowed for 20 online sports betting licenses, split between our 15 riverboat casinos, the land-based casino (Harrah’s New Orleans) and four pari-mutuel facilities. All of them had until Dec. 31, 2021 to apply for a license. If they had not applied, they would’ve lost that opportunity to get a license. We would’ve then put it out on the open market for someone to bid on it. But, just as we thought, all 20 actually applied.”
“It’s a hefty process. It cost them $750,000 to apply. That fee is nonrefundable and should they not get a license, they would lose their $750,000. As of (Jan. 27) we have signed off on 13 of those licenses for retail sportsbooks and five more that are coming relatively soon. The two remaining eligible properties are not in commerce right now. One is Diamond Jacks in Bossier City and the former Isle of Capri is owned by Caesars and will be rebranded as a Horseshoe property.”
The state’s is now up to 13 legal retail sportsbooks since the first book took its initial wager in November of last year. What’s your impression of the first two months of legal betting in the state?
“We’ve had two months of experience. November was a very limited month and December was somewhat limited as to the number of licenses, but I’m very, very encouraged by the numbers that we’re seeing. Just in the first two months with limited license as we’ve seen about $70 million wagered.”
In most states with both online and retail sports betting, mobile betting makes up 85 percent or more of total handle and similar figures are expected in Louisiana. As you prepare for your state’s online launch, why else is the legal, regulated online market so important?
“I got a call from somebody a few weeks ago who had bet on an off offshore account and I think must have made a significant bet and won and was having a hard time of collecting his money and wanted to know what we could do about it. I said ‘nothing.’ They’re not regulated. They’re not licensed. They’re illegal and there’s nothing I can do about it. If they were licensed here, we regulate them and we go put their feet to the fire.”
As you said earlier, people just assume you pass a bill or voter referendum and sports betting begins. That’s far from the case. What are some of the steps Louisiana officials have to undertake before legal wagering can begin?
“It begins with the vetting process of the vendors and their suitability and also with their internal control compliances. And then the other issue is from the tech side making sure that the technology is working properly and also that the geofencing is working properly. With the statewide referendum a year ago, out of the 64 parishes, we had 55 that said yes. However, we had nine that said no. And so those nine parishes are going to be literally geofenced out of mobile wagering in the geographical confines of those parishes. We have to make sure that the geofencing is working properly and that all the technology is working properly.”
Once online suppliers and their affiliated vendors pass all necessary inspections, Louisiana law still requires sign-off from the state police as well as the attorney general’s office before you can approve any sportsbook. What has that process been like?
“We have 125 troopers that do nothing but gaming policing. That’s their job. But every one of them was deployed for emergency catastrophe work during Hurricane Ida, so we lost about two-and-a-half to three weeks of actual licensing work. But it didn’t slow them down when it came to taking action. They just jumped right back in and I’m very proud of the work that they’re doing and the work that the gaming division as well as the attorney general’s office is doing also. So it’s a three-pronged approach the way we’re structured in Louisiana: attorney general on the legal side, state police on the compliance and licensing side and us the gaming control board on the regulatory side.”
Louisiana is no stranger to big events, especially when it comes to sports. What does it mean to have online sports betting live before the Super Bowl as well as the 2022 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament that will be held in New Orleans?
“(State officials) have been working overtime. They understand what the market wants and what’s coming up with the Super Bowl and March Madness. Going live before then is going to be a huge plus for us.”
