Johns gives update on sports gambling numbers after first 5 months
Published 7:35 pm Wednesday, April 27, 2022
- Former Dallas Cowboy Drew Pearson, Coushatta Chairman Jonathon Cernek and former New Orleans Saint Rickey Jackson compare their bets while former Houston Texan Owen Daniels places his bet Wednesday during the grand opening of The Rez Sportsbook at Coushatta at the Coushatta Casino Resort in Kinder. (Doris Maricle / American Press)
In the first five months of sports betting being legalized in Louisiana, $628 million was wagered, generating $7.4 million in taxes, Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns said Tuesday.
Johns provided information to the Senate Judiciary B Committee on legislation by Senate President Page Cortez, R-Lafayette. Senate Bill 290 passed with amendments and cleaned up some language related to sports betting. It heads to the Senate floor for consideration.
The bill makes sure that all aspects of sports betting comply with a program that allows residents to voluntarily exclude themselves from gambling.
Casinos can share information from that database with the platforms that take actual bets.
The bill also clarifies that sports wagering platform providers cannot claim more than $5 million in eligible promotional play per licensee in any calendar year. The legislation also specifies that the taxes going to local governments of the 55 parishes that approved sports betting will be based on population.
When discussing promotional play, Johns said it will take at least a full year to track how well it will work and to get a clear picture of how many new customers will come on board. States vary when it comes to promotional play, with some offering no credits, others having unlimited credits and some having a tiered system.
He mentioned how casinos are putting up millions of dollars to build out permanent, first-class sports betting facilities.
L’Auberge Casino in Lake Charles was the first one to build out a permanent facility, spending $4.8 million, he said.
Golden Nugget Casino plans to spend close to $9 million on its permanent facility. L’Auberge Casino in Baton Rouge is spending $6.5 million, and Harrah’s Casino in New Orleans is spending $12 million.
Johns said he went to the L’Auberge sports betting area at 10:30 a.m. on the first week of the NCAA March Madness basketball tournament and found a packed house.
“It will seat 225 people, and there was not a seat available,” he said.
Johns said he is excited about how sports betting was implemented.
“We’ve done it the right way, and we’ve had zero problems with the program as we rolled it out,” he said.
