The NFL is back tonight. The Super Bowl-winning L.A. Rams will host the Buffalo Bills. Tonight is also the kickoff of the first full football season of mobile online sports betting in Louisiana.
Louisiana Gaming Control Board chairman Ronnie Johns says when the state legislature first legalized sports betting, they were expecting $30 million in annual revenue. Johns says it looks like that was a lowball estimate.
"Once we have a full year of mobile, data on mobile, we're going to far exceed that 30 million," Johns predicted. "How far, I don't know, but I feel very confident in telling you that we're going to exceed that 30 million dollars in revenue to the state."
Legal mobile sports betting in Louisiana began around the end of January this year, and quickly became about 80 percent of the market. In that time, legal sports betting has already collected $16 million dollars in revenue for the state, and now the football season, college and pro, is about to begin.
Johns says that revenue would have gone to other states or possibly even overseas if the legislature had not voted to allow it.
"The real issue there," said Johns, "is these illegal, offshore online accounts that people were having to use because there was no sports betting in Louisiana."
Johns says some people have had trouble with the offshore sportsbooks not paying out, and he says there's nothing authorities can do about it:
"People called me and said, 'Mr. Chairman, I won some money, a significant amount of money, with this offshore account. They haven't paid me. What can y'all do to help me?' There's nothing we can do to help."