Online sportsbooks can legally begin taking bets in Louisiana on Friday early morning, joining their brick-and-mortar cousins that are already accepting wagers from gamers in the Pelican State.

" [Louisiana Gaming Control Board] Chairman Ronnie Johns reveals that presently qualified sports wagering operators will be approved to accept mobile bets as early as 8:00 a.m. Friday morning," a press release said Wednesday. "The remaining mobile sports wagering operators remain in the process of meeting statutory and regulatory requirements and will be authorized as soon as those requirements are met."

One operator that intends on taking wagers on Friday in Louisiana is Caesars Sportsbook. The bookmaker's owner, Nevada-based Caesars Entertainment Inc., operates gambling establishments in the southern state that currently provide retail sports wagering on their residential or commercial properties.

"We have actually seen remarkable interest in legal sports wagering since the opening of our Caesars Sportsbooks at Harrah's New Orleans and Horseshoe Bossier City," said Eric Hession, co-president of Caesars Digital, in a statement. "Come Friday, through the app, we'll be able to offer much more opportunities to experience the thrill of sports betting."

Other mobile sportsbooks expected to go reside in Louisiana on Friday include BetMGM, DraftKings, and FanDuel.

More broadly, however, Wednesday's news will add another state to the growing map of places where online sports wagering is legal and functional in the U.S. The Louisiana Gaming Control Board's statement likewise indicates that online sports betting will be authorized in time for the next round of the National Football League's playoffs and the Super Bowl afterwards.

Prep work

Voters in 55 of Louisiana's 64 parishes (comparable to counties) voted in favor of permitting sports wagering back in November 2020. Lawmakers then passed legislation last year permitting the gaming control panel to release up to 20 licenses for in-person and online sportsbooks, with choice provided towards the state's casinos and live horse-racing tracks. The Louisiana Lottery Corp. is enabled to take sports wagers via site, mobile app, and retail kiosks as well.

In-person sports wagering has actually already started at numerous gambling establishments across Louisiana. Online wagering, nevertheless, has actually required a bit more time and effort from regulators to make sure things run efficiently and in accordance with the state's sports-betting rules.

Gaming Control Board Chairman Ronnie Johns told Covers recently that regulators were getting near to rolling out online sports wagering. At the time, though, Johns said that they wished to make sure an excellent experience for bettors and couldn't guarantee mobile betting would be up and running in time for the Super Bowl. That is no longer the case.

While the main licensees in Louisiana will be the owners and operators of brick-and-mortar centers, the consumer-facing brands for mobile betting will be some of the biggest names in business. That's since licensees can also partner with as much as 2 platform service providers for online sports betting, each of which are allowed to use their own separately branded website and mobile app in the state.

Some sportsbook operators had actually begun pre-registration efforts ahead of the official launch of online wagering. For example, Caesars Entertainment announced in October that its Caesars Sportsbook app was formally readily available for wagerers to download, but so they could register, deposit funds, and start checking chances. WynnBET announced on Wednesday that it was likewise allowing pre-registration and deposits in the state.