Louisiana Enters The iCasino Conversation
The candidate list to legalize online casinos is short, but Louisiana is quickly becoming one of the better candidates (in a lousy crop).
The Bulletin Board
VIEWS: Is Louisiana one of the best online casino candidates? It certainly appears so, but 2025 is likely too heavy a lift.
LEGISLATIVE and REGULATORY UPDATES: NE sports betting falls short; SC sports betting in 2025; TX gets complicated; VA regulatory simplicity.
NEWS: Bull or Bear? Can ESPN Bet’s improved product and New York launch make a difference?
QUICK HITTER: AISES announces new partnership with FanDuel.
AROUND the WATERCOOLER: The surprising Top-8 gambling companies list.
STRAY THOUGHTS: The correct way to partner with tribes.
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Lousiana Is One of the Better Online Casino Candidates
I’m often asked about online gambling candidates, and one state I’ve been mentioning for more than a year is Louisiana.
In August 2023, I wrote:
“I wouldn’t put Louisiana on the candidate list just yet, but I can see the state taking a solid look at online casinos, perhaps trying to bring it to the voters via referendum in 2025 or 2026.”
And as I wrote in February:
“Lousiana checks off a lot of the online gambling boxes:
Declining land-based casino revenue (24 casinos supporting 40,000 jobs)
An upcoming budget shortfall in 2025-26 (estimated near $500 million)
A familiarity with gambling and online gambling
A path forward through parish-wide voter referendums
“Couple the declining land-based revenue with the $500 million budget shortfall in 25-26 (and an anticipated $733 million budget shortfall by FY2027-28), and Louisiana suddenly looks like a promising candidate.”
The shortfall is the byproduct of an expiring 45-cent added sales tax in July 2025.
And it looks like the stars are aligning for the Bayou State to make a legitimate push at legalizing online casinos (which will still likely require a multi-year effort).
As Matthew Kredell said in a recent Play USA article, “The Louisiana Senate will soon convene a study committee to begin considering the benefits, concerns, and best practices of legalizing iCasino.”
The study committee was created via a resolution in June 2023. “The resolution requests that Senate committees Judiciary B and Revenue and Fiscal Affairs meet jointly to study iGaming and report the findings to the Louisiana Senate by March 1,” Kredell reports.
Further, a state senator is planning on introducing legislation based on the NCLGS model legislation, which is expected to be unveiled in Louisiana in December (NCLGS President Shawn Fluharty and I discussed the model legislation on a recent episode of my podcast), and I wrote about the project here.
Legislative and Regulatory Updates: NE Sports Betting Falls Short; SC in 2025; TX Gets Complicated; VA Regulatory Simplicity
Nebraska sports betting bill comes up short: Nebraska gave mobile sports betting legalization supporters a glimmer of hope when Gov. Jim Pillen called a special session to find a revenue stream that could offer residents some property tax relief. However, sports betting wasn’t passed before the special session ended last week. It was always a longshot, but its chances went down to zero after a group of 13 lawmakers penned a letter opposing the plan.
South Carolina will look at sports betting in 2025 (hopes are not high): North Carolina’s sports betting success is spurring efforts in South Carolina, which flirted with legalizing online sports betting in 2023. “The success in terms of the tax revenue generated already in North Carolina will be enticing,” Stephen Shapiro of the University of South Carolina Department of Sport and Entertainment Management said in a recent interview. “I would imagine that we’re going to see more of those types of [sports betting] bills and that there’s a good chance it would be legalized in the next couple years.” Standing in the way is Gov. Henry McMaster, who campaigned against sports betting in 2022, and the fact that South Carolina is one of the most barren legal gambling states in the country.
Texas is getting (more) complicated: As I’ve been reporting, Texas is one of the gambling industry’s white whales, but even the most ardent supporters of bringing resort casinos to the state consider it a long-term project. And now, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (a newsletter sponsor), the debate is spilling into the state’s somewhat intertwined efforts to legalize sports betting. “We previously projected that Texas would legalize in November 2025 via ballot measure and then launch in fall 2026,” EKG wrote in its most recent Sports Betting Policy Monitor. “We’ve now pushed the timeline back a legislative session, with legalization occurring in November 2027 and launch occurring in time for the NFL season opener in fall 2028.”
Virginia lawmakers push for centralized gaming regulatory body: Virginia has legalized several forms of gambling in recent years (sports betting, online lottery, and casinos), and now there is a push to create a single entity to oversee Virginia gambling, except the lottery. Del. Terry Austin, a member of a joint subcommittee studying the feasibility of establishing the Virginia Gaming Commission, said, “I think oftentimes maybe we get complacent, and things grow, and we don’t acknowledge the growth,” per local reporting.
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ESPN Bet Product Improvements and NY Launch
On the topic of Penn Entertainment and ESPN Bet, Jeffries David Katz called the upcoming NFL season “the most discussed issue among investors.”
Presenting the bull/bear case, Katz wrote, “The late entry into a competitive, duopoly-led market inherently limits the parameters of success on a significant investment. Heading into the season, the size of the ESPN funnel, the daily fantasy legacy momentum, and the expected positive data points from the start of the season could create potential upside; however, we remained measured. We expect Penn shares to be among the most dynamic in the group over the next several weeks.”
Penn has targeted the start of the 2024-2025 NFL Season as its official launch. In the lead-up, it has taken some positive steps, according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.
“ESPN BET’s recent update marks an overwhelmingly positive change to the app, aligning it more closely with industry trends,” EKG noted in its recent Sports Betting Market Monitor.
The EKG team believes the new updates will make the transition from other sportsbooks to ESPN Bet more seamless and “feel more familiar to bettors coming over from other sportsbooks.”
The updates are timely, occurring before the NFL season and ESPN Bet’s expected launch in New York. During the company’s Q2 earnings call, newly appointed Chief Technology Officer Aaron LeBarge said its New York launch would occur in late August, pending regulatory approval.
“We’re currently live in 19 jurisdictions across North America, with New York going live in late August, pending regulatory approval,” LeBarge said. “We know we have some ground to make up, particularly in key feature categories such as parlays and player props. This is a consequence of the laser focus that we placed on our platform migration, rebranding, and new state launches. However, I see this as an exciting opportunity to roll up my sleeves with our engineering and product teams to create a best-in-class experience for our customers.”
As I previously mentioned, the upcoming NFL season is likely make-or-break for ESPN Bet.
Quick Hitter: FanDuel Partners With AISES
I was quite happy to stumble upon the news that FanDuel has partnered with AISES “as a new partner who will promote Indian country workforce development in the STEM fields and its importance for the gaming industry’s future.”
Jodi Dilascio, a Gaming Development Representative at AISES and one of the most passionate people I’ve met in the industry, initially introduced me to the organization.
For those that don’t know, AISES is a “national nonprofit organization focused on substantially increasing the representation of Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific Islands in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) studies and careers.”
Obviously, you can put two and two together and recognize that the partnership fits in well with FanDuel’s tribal apology tour. As an aside, I’m starting to wonder why FanDuel seems to be the only operator working to mend these fences.
As I said on X, my column on AISES is one of my favorites, and I’m incredibly proud to have written it. It’s gambling-adjacent, but I highly recommend reading it, and if you’re a business or organization, please consider working with AISES.
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Around the Watercooler
Social media conversations, rumors, and gossip.
There was some interesting analysis from the Earnings+More team on Monday, as E+M posted a chart of the eight firms in the gambling sector with a market cap of at least $10 billion:
Las Vegas Sands - $30b
Flutter - $22.8b
Aristocrat - $22.5b
Evolution - $22.4b
Galaxy Entertainment - $17.3b
DraftKings - $17b
MGM - $11.8b
Churchill Downs - $10b
Online sports betting operators tend to get all the press and feel like the heavy hitters when it comes to lobbying, but notice there are only three on the list: Flutter, DraftKings, and MGM (and MGM is a mix of land-based and online). Rounding out the list are two suppliers (Aristocrat and Evolution), two more land-based casino operators (LVS and Galaxy with heavy presences in Macau), and Churchill Downs.
Stray Thoughts
Jamie Hummingbird, Chair for the National Tribal Gaming Commissioners & Regulators was asked by Casino Beats, “How important is it that operators educate themselves on the tribal sector and the heritage of the sector before entering new North American markets?”
His answer was short and sweet and probably the two best pieces of advice for any operator:
“The two best pieces of advice I could give any person or company wishing to engage with a tribe is to do their research. First – learn about the history of the tribe and its relationships with the federal and state governments, both in the past and recently. This will give you an idea of why a tribe has a particular outlook.
“Second – remember that all tribes are not the same. We all have individual histories that were impacted by different circumstances and an approach that may work with one tribe may not work for another.”
You can read the full interview here: Jamie Hummingbird: Two key pieces of advice for positive engagement with the tribal sector