Matt Doyle | WWL.com
LSU President F. King Alexander says if sports betting is legalized in Louisiana, then LSU should get a cut of the revenue since a lot of the gambling will be on the Purple and Gold.
Alexander says it’s only right that a portion of the revenue should return to some of the individuals who will be generating a lot of revenue for other people.
“If we could find a way to carve out a percentage that would go to educational opportunities, that would go to need based aid, that would go to help many of our student athletes, I think it is the right time to be talking about that,” said Alexander.
But Metairie Senator Danny Martiny says he’s committed to ensuring any revenue generated goes towards early childhood education subsidies for working and middle class families.
He says giving a cut to LSU because of their athletics opens up a nasty can of worms.
“If every sports team that got bet on wanted a piece of the action, then it wouldn’t make any sense to do what I am doing,” Martiny said.
Revenue coming directly from sports betting in other states like Mississippi has so far not added up to a lot of money. Martiny says people are lining up to get a slice of the revenue from business that may only be worth $20 to $50 million.
“It’s more of an amenity, it’s not so much to make us a big money maker, but to make sure that all of the sports betting doesn’t go to Mississippi, Arkansas, or the Indian casinos.”