Mobile sports betting comes online Friday at 8 AM. The surge in betting that will accompany it is expected to produce over 30 million dollars in total sports gaming revenue when the entire first year of sports betting is tallied next November.
The State Gaming Control Board noted that in December Louisiana generated $400,000 in total revenue from gaming activity at casinos that hosted a sportsbook. Metairie State Senator Cameron Henry told WWL he expects that total to rise dramatically in the coming months.
“The in-person, or retail sportsbook, those are taxed at 10%. When you switch over to the mobile side of that, that is going to be taxed at 15%,” said Henry.
It’s not just that the tax rate is higher, Henry said data from other states shows the strong majority of sports bets placed are coming from mobile services. This influx of funds is already partially dedicated with funds going to early childhood education, behavior health wellness, disabled affair trust fund, and the horsemen.
“It’s not designed to necessarily save the state from all of the financial woes that we see coming in the future, it’s just to keep us competitive with other states,” said Henry who noted Louisiana is one of the first 20 states to legalize the activity. “This is the perfect example of it’s better to be in the first half than the last half.”
