Louisiana Sports Betting – Where, When, and Which Promo Codes for 2023

Louisiana is now home to legalized sports betting of all forms. Previously only offered at retail locations, mobile sports betting in the Pelican State officially went live on January 28, 2022.

The state has always been a little different so it’s not a surprise that their treatment of sports betting is too. In November 2020, a referendum was passed by Louisiana voters that legalized sports betting in the state.

However, it’s not quite that simple. Voters in each parish (think counties) could decide whether to bring sports betting to their specific communities. Every other state that has voted on legalizing sports betting has done so via a state-wide referendum, not broken down by county.

In Louisiana the French, Creole, and Cajun influence is evident in everything from its amazing food to its Napoleonic system of government, making it one of the most unique states in the country. Interestingly, Louisiana has a civil law system of state government, while the other 49 states have a common law system. Louisiana also has parishes instead of counties. There are 64 parishes in the state that each have a say on sports betting. There doesn’t appear to be any legal differences between a parish and a county, but the distinction without a difference is just another Louisiana quirk.

Once the sports betting dust settled, 55 of the 64 parishes approved sports betting, both in-person and online. The nine parishes that declined will be geofenced to prevent bets from taking place. Residents there who want to legally bet on sports will have to drive to a neighboring parish to place their bets. No other state has done it this way, but it is not surprising that Louisiana was the first because no other state is quite like Louisiana. Retail betting officially began in the state in October 2021 and was joined by mobile on January 28, 2022.

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Professional Louisiana Sports Teams

The odds are from FanDuel Sportsbook and they are subject to change. – Updated September 26, 2023

Get in on the Louisiana action today!

With both retail and mobile sports betting currently live, the time to start thinking about your first sports wager is now! So, how will you decide on what your first legal sports bet will be? Here’s a couple of things to consider:

• College football betting will be back before we know it, which means futures for the 2022-23 season are very much hot in the streets! Take a shot on new LSU transfer QB Jayden Daniels to lead the Tigers back to the promised land, currently available at 50-1!
• NFL preseason is underway which means your Saints are almost back in action! You can get New Orleans to win the NFC South at +310, and the NFC at +1700.

Louisiana sports betting legislative outlook

Similar to other states such as Maryland, voters in Louisiana were asked whether they wanted to legalize sports betting but were not asked to decide on a regulatory structure. If the voters said no, then the legislature knew it did not need to do any more work on the issue. If the voters said yes, the legislature would get to work creating legislation to enact a regulatory framework. This has happened in multiple states and seems to be the preferred approach of many state legislators, including those in Baton Rouge.

After the referendum was passed by Louisiana voters in 2020, legislators got to work. During the 2021 legislative session, hearings were held on two bills that would guide the legalization of sports betting in Louisiana. The first bill, which set up the regulatory structure, was passed by the state Senate and later signed into law. The second bill, which established the tax and fee structure, passed both the House and Senate with overwhelming margins.

A third bill determined that LA sports betting revenue will contribute to the state general fund, early childhood education, and behavioral health.

Ok, enough government talk. Now let’s talk about what all this means for bettors in the Pelican State (seriously, it’s the Pelican state).

Louisiana online sports betting

Fans of online betting, which is almost everyone, will be very happy to learn that mobile sports betting is officially live in Louisiana as of January 28, 2022! Be sure to check our table above for a list of the very best new user welcome bonus offers in the state.

There will eventually be many different mobile sportsbooks in the state. The legislation authorizes up to 20 sportsbook licenses, with all the existing casinos in the state able to apply for one. Louisiana could end up being one of the most open, competitive markets in the country.

Right now there are 19 commercial casinos in the state:

• 14 riverboat casinos (there were 15, but DiamondJacks in Bossier City permanently closed in 2020)
• 4 racino horse tracks
• 1 large Harrah’s casino right in the middle of New Orleans

All 19 casinos are able to apply for a sports betting license. Each licensee qualifies for two online “skins.” A skin is a mobile component to a licensed casino operator. For example, Harrah’s New Orleans can have two online partners. Since Harrah’s is owned by Caesars, Caesars Sportsbook will be one of their two available brands.

Therefore, because of the casino ownership structure, the total number of sportsbooks operating in the state can end up at 41 if fully taken advantage of (20 licenses x 2 skins each + 1 additional skin for the Louisiana Lottery Corporation). We expect more than a dozen different operators to end up competing in the Louisiana market, which is great news for residents and the millions of visitors who travel to Louisiana each year.

Kiosks

As briefly mentioned above, the Louisiana Lottery also has a license and can partner with a sportsbook operator. Lottery operators in other states have partnered with sportsbooks, but most have not been in charge of administering up to 1,000 sports betting kiosks that will be installed in bars and restaurants. Louisiana leads the way once again. Presumably based on the popularity of existing video poker machines throughout the state, Louisiana has authorized sports betting kiosks to be permitted in bars and restaurants that serve liquor.

With mobile betting now given the green light, patrons presumably could bet from their phones while seated at the bar, but restaurants in the state wanted in on the action. In order to provide another option to bettors and give bars an additional way to increase sales, the state has authorized kiosks, which will also provide additional revenue to the state from the 10 percent tax rate on the net revenue.

Louisiana online sportsbooks

Retail sportsbooks were joined by mobile sportsbooks following the state’s online launch on January 28, 2022. FanDuel, DraftKings, Caesars, BetMGM, BetRivers, and Barstool got the party started and are expected to be joined by various others. Which online sportsbooks will factor in Louisiana? Let’s have a look.

Seven different companies own all 19 casinos currently in the state. Most of them are major, publicly traded companies that have a sportsbook or have partnered with sportsbook operators in other states. We expect all of them to roll out online products that include:

Barstool Sportsbook

Penn National also owns five casinos in Louisiana. Five seems to be the magic number here. As you are likely aware, Penn National has a sizable stake in Barstool Sports. And as many might have anticipated, Barstool Sportsbook went live in Louisiana during the state’s initial mobile launch on January 28, 2022. Beignets and Betting with Barstool on Bourbon Street has a nice alliterative ring to it.

BetMGM Sportsbook

Like FanDuel, BetMGM has an established partnership agreement with Boyd Gaming, who announced that the brand would operate as an online skin for the Sam’s Town Casino in Shreveport. Despite going live on mobile during the state’s initial launch on January 28, 2022, a company spokesperson revealed that BetMGM has no plans for a retail sportsbook location in Louisiana.

BetRivers

Rush Street Interactive managed to launch BetRivers in Louisiana by gaining market access through online casino and technology provider Boom Entertainment. Despite this, no other details were provided as far as which exact retail location the BetRivers mobile skin is tied to.

Caesars Sportsbook

Casino giant Caesars owns and operates five retail casinos in Louisiana, including Harrah’s Casino New Orleans, which is the official casino partner of both the Saints and Pelicans, the city’s NFL and NBA teams. The Caesars Sportsbook mobile app went live as one of the first six brands to launch in the state and will surely be a major factor for years to come.

DraftKings Sportsbook

DraftKings Sportsbook already had its presence felt in Louisiana long before its mobile launch on January 28, 2022. With a pair of retail locations as well as its famous DFS product going live in the state, it was only a matter of time until DraftKings mobile sportsbook became available in Louisana. Through their partnership with the Golden Nugget Lake Charles, DraftKings is on the fast track to becoming a household name among Bayou bettors.

FanDuel Sportsbook

Boyd Gaming owns five retail casinos in the state, which makes up 30 percent of its non-Nevada-based holdings. Louisiana is obviously an important state for the company. Boyd has casinos in several states with sports betting, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. In each of those states, Boyd has partnered with FanDuel to bring the sports betting titan to those markets. They did exactly the same in Louisiana, which saw FanDuel join the party as one of Louisiana’s first six mobile sportsbook options.

WynnBET Sportsbook – CLOSED

WynnBET became the 7th online sportsbook brand to go live in Louisiana following its debut on February 10, 2022, through a license arrangement with the Horseshoe Casino in Bossier City. WynnBET was the first sportsbook brand to launch in the state after the original six books went live, and was also the first to shut down.

On August 11, 2023, Wynn Resorts announced that WynnBET would cease operations in the state of Louisiana.

Potential Future Additions

While each of the sportsbooks listed above are actually live and accepting bets in the state of Louisiana, many others are expected to follow suit in the near future. No details have been confirmed, but speculation tells us that these online sportsbooks may pop up in the Pelican State soon:

Bally Bet

Bally’s is making a lot of noise in the sports betting industry. Bally Bet, the company’s sportsbook brand, went live in Colorado in May 2021. Additionally, Bally’s partnered with Sinclair, owner of the New Orleans Regional Sports Network (RSN) that is now known as Bally Sports New Orleans. The channel will feature live sporting events and programming focused on sports betting. Since Bally’s Corp owns the Eldorado Shreveport, it will have access to a sports betting license. There is a good chance that Bally Bet will enter the Louisiana market eventually.

Golden Nugget Sportsbook

The Golden Nugget brand is iconic and widely known in the gambling community. In fact, Golden Nugget has been the number-one online casino in New Jersey for several years now. Golden Nugget is working on parlaying its online casino success into a successful online sportsbook, which is currently available in states that include New Jersey, Michigan and Nevada. With two online skins tethered to the Golden Nugget Lake Charles Casino, it is possible that the company will also partner with a large sportsbook operator to pair with its self-branded product. The company’s physical location is already in cahoots with DraftKings for their retail sports betting services, but online options remain available for potential suitors. Time will tell what the company decides to do, but we are confident that the Golden Nugget will be involved in the sports betting game in Louisiana, either using its own online sportsbook or partnering with another operator.

Betfred Sportsbook

From a single betting shop in 1960’s England to one of the largest bookmakers in the world, Betfred Sportsbook has blossomed into one of the industries biggest names – throughout the UK and now the United States. Betfred launched the state’s first retail sportsbook in October 2021 through a partnership agreement with the Paragon Casino Resort in Marksville, and will soon be debuting its online product.

Fubo Sportsbook

Fubo Gaming was the most recent company to secure a market access deal in the state of Louisiana. The brand agreed to terms with Caesars Entertainment in February 2022, setting up an eventual Fubo Sportsbook launch down the road. No details have emerged yet, but expect this brand to move fast, as they’ve now acquired market access in 10 total states dating back to last year.

Retail Sportsbooks in Louisiana

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Louisiana Professional Sports Teams

Pelicans (NBA)

The Pelicans are coming off a solid campaign making their first postseason appearance since 2017-2018. Former NBA player, Willie Green, led the helm in his inaugural season as an NBA head coach and showed he could be one of the young and upcoming coaches in the game.

The midseason addition of CJ McCollum yielded immediate dividends averaging 22 points per game as a member of the Pels. His star counterpart, Brandon Ingram, continued to show he was one of the more underrated and promising young players in the entire NBA. 

Although the Pelicans fell just short in round 1, losing in six games to the defending Western Conference champions, Phoenix Suns, the future is bright. Not only did their star players produce, but the youth on this New Orleans team is inspiring. 2021 2nd round pick Herb Jones found his way to a 2nd All-Rookie team selection. Other rookies, Trey Murphy III and Jose Alvarado, also made significant contributions.

The Pels have taken some of that momentum into the 2022-23 season. With Zion Williamson added into the mix to go along with their young, promising core, the Pelicans are proving they are a legitimate contender in the Western Conference.

Saints (NFL)

The Saints missed the postseason for the second year in a row, and unfortunately, do not have their first-round pick (was traded to Philadelphia last season) for the 2023 NFL Draft.

New Orleans has an interesting offseason ahead of them. It appears they will be running it back with head coach Dennis Allen at the helm – with minimal cap space, New Orleans may look into dealing some of their veteran players in an effort to start their rebuilding process.

Louisiana College Teams

LSU Tigers

LSU’s football and basketball programs are in flux and retooling. Each head coach was relieved of their duties in 2021-22. Ed Orgeron and Will Wade had their highs as head coaches, but each suffered setbacks off the field that brought lousy publicity to each program.

The LSU football program is now led by former Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly. Kelly accumulated a 92-39 record, with the Fighting Irish appearing in 2 College Football Playoffs and one BCS National Championship.

In Kelly’s first season, he accumulated a 10-4 record and made an appearance in the SEC Championship. Although they fell to eventual national champion, Georgia, it was a great building block for Kelly in year one.

On the hardwood, LSU is coming off their second straight NCAA tournament appearance. Despite this, former head coach Will Wade was fired right before their 1st round game against Iowa State due to recruiting violations.

After the tournament, LSU sought out and hired former Murray State head coach Matt McMahon. McMahon compiled a 154-67 record in his seven seasons at the Ohio Valley powerhouse, including three NCAA Tournament appearances.

These new head coaches will have their work cut out, but both should be ready for the challenge.

Tulane Green Wave

After three consecutive bowl game appearances, head coach Willie Fritz and the Green Wave took a considerable step back, stumbling to a 2-10 finish this past season. The Green Wave bounced back in an admirable 12-2 record, and finishing off the season with a win over USC in the Cotton Bowl. 

Fritz’s 10-win turnaround is the biggest single-season turnaround in FBS history.

Head coach Ron Hunter is building his program the right way for the basketball team. After a disastrous tenure from former NBA coach Mike Dunleavy Sr., Hunter has increased his win percentage every year in New Orleans. Hunter is coming off his best season, finishing 14-15 and a solid 10-8 record in the American Athletic Conference.

Tulane has not made the tournament since 1994 – Hunter will look to change that for this 2022-23 season.

Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are coming off excellent finishes in basketball and football.

For the football team, the Ragin’ Cajuns appeared in their fifth straight bowl game but fell just short of winning their fourth consecutive bowl game in the Independence Bowl. Former star quarterback Michael Desormeaux assumed the head coaching position for the 2022 season after Billy Napier darted for Florida. Desormeaux had a solid first year campaign, going 6-7, with wins over fellow bowl teams Eastern Michigan, Marshall, and Georgia Southern.

The basketball team did not see the football team’s kinds of success, but they fought hard despite challenging circumstances. Even though they were riddled with injuries and a COVID outbreak, Bob Marlin’s squad scratched and clawed to a conference title game appearance against Georgia State.

Marlin will look to build off that heading into next season. The Ragin’ Cajuns haven’t appeared in March Madness since the 2013-14 season.

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs

The Louisiana Tech Bulldogs are coming off another tough year on the gridiron. It was their second consecutive year with three wins. Former head coach Skip Holtz, the son of Notre Dame head coach legend Lou Holtz, left for the head coaching and GM positions of the USFL team, the Birmingham Stallions where he won a USFL title.

Louisiana Tech hired Sonny Cumbie as their new head football coach. Cumbie was the offensive coordinator at Texas Tech, where he saw marked success. He saw stints in the NFL and various indoor football leagues, but Cumbie has a long rebuild ahead in Ruston.

Ever since former basketball coach Mike White left for Gainesville, head coach Eric Konkol has won at least 22 games in six of his seven seasons. Konkol is still looking to take the Bulldogs to take the next step as they’ve been on the cusp of an NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bulldogs will look to change that this upcoming season as the Bulldogs haven’t appeared in the NCAAs since 1990-91.

Other Division I Louisiana Colleges

Louisiana sports betting promotions

All online sportsbooks offer some sort of promotion to entice new customers to try out their service. These promotions often come in the form of a no sweat bet, a first bet match, or a deposit match. Regardless of what form it arrives in, it is all but certain that new players will be able to boost their bankroll in some form when they sign up for a new account. Now that mobile sports betting is live and running, we’ve got you covered with all of the best Louisiana sports betting promo codes available.

For more information on sportsbook bonus offers and promotions, SportsHandle put together this useful page explaining how the most common bonus offers work. Just remember to look at the Terms and Conditions before making your first deposit or placing a promotional bet. Each sportsbook has their own rules and requirements. Let’s go over the specific promotions in a little more detail:

No Sweat Bet

A No Sweat Bet is a bet that will be refunded if you lose. This is a common promotion that allows new players to bet with house money. Say you make a $500 deposit and want to bet that $500 on a playoff game. With a similar first bet offer, you can make your first wager knowing that if you lose, your money will be refunded as site credit. If you win, that’s great, but you can take a chance knowing your first bet has some cover.

Complimentary Bets

A bet that doesn’t cost you anything? Sign us up. Many sportsbooks offer these sorts of bets when you open an account. It is usually in the form of a site credit that appears after your first deposit. You can use that credit to make any bet. If you win, you get to keep the winnings. If you lose, you aren’t out any money. Most sportsbooks don’t let you withdraw the original credit amount, so if you had a credit for $50 and won $30, you would be able to withdraw the $30 in winnings but not $80 (the credit + the winnings). As always, be sure to check the rules before making any promotional wagers.

Deposit match

A deposit match consists of the sportsbook matching your initial deposit. With a 100% deposit match, if you deposit $250, you will receive $250 (100%) in site credit as part of the promotion. This money doesn’t have to be used on one bet. You can spend it on many different bets or on one big bet. The choice is ultimately yours, which is why deposit matches are considered the best promotional offering in the industry.

Odds boost

Odds boosts are usually offered to everyone, not just new players. Sportsbooks will offer users enhanced odds for a promoted bet, usually by region. For example, FanDuel Sportsbook in Louisiana may boost the odds on the Saints or LSU Tigers. This will give fans of those teams more of an incentive to bet on their team. It is more marketing than anything, but if the bet ends up winning, the payout is higher than it otherwise would have been.

Sports to wager on in Louisana

Each state decides which sports are authorized to be offered by its sportsbooks. Sportsbooks in every state offer all of the major sports (NHL, NFL, WNBA, NBA, College football, College basketball, MLB, Golf, Soccer), but some states are more innovative and let sportsbooks offer just about any sport played anywhere in the world. Colorado has an innovative regulatory structure and allows wagering on lesser-known sports (betting on ping pong is particularly popular in the state, for some reason). Bettors in Louisiana have access to wager on all of the major sports worldwide – just no word on ping pong, yet.

Sports Betting Timeline

For a city that parties as hard as New Orleans and a state with such passionate sports fans as Louisiana, it only seemed like a matter of time before online sports betting was legalized.

Louisianans will no longer need to cross the Mississippi and place wagers in Mississippi. They will no longer need to place illegal offshore bets – as of January 2022, online sports betting is officially legal in Louisiana. It wasn’t a question of when it would happen, but with Louisiana’s state persona, why did it take so long?

Let’s review the process a quick history of how Louisiana got to where they are today:

• 1940: Betting in casinos and horse racing is legalized
• November 2020: 54 out of 64 parishes vote to legalize sports betting in SB 247.
• November 2021: Retail sportsbooks launch
• January 2022: Online sports betting launches

Markets available in Louisiana

A market is a wager available at a sportsbook. The sportsbook “makes the market” by offering a wager that people can “buy.” For example, if the Saints are playing the Falcons in a prime time game, a sportsbook might offer over one hundred different markets on the game. Each possible bet listed on the sportsbook is a market. Saints -4.5 is one market. Falcons +4.5 is another market. Alvin Kamara rushing for over 90.5 yards is a market known as a player prop bet. Under 90.5 yards is yet another market. You get the idea. Here are the most common markets offered by sportsbooks nationwide:

• Spread
• Moneyline
• Over/under
• Prop bets
• Futures
• Teaser
• Parlay
• Live/in-game 

Banking Options

Whichever sportsbook you choose to play in Louisiana, the majority of online sportsbooks will have most, if not all, of the following deposit and withdrawal options:

• AHC eCheck
• Bank wire transfer
• Cash at the casino cage
• Online banking
• PayNearMe
• PayPal
• Play+ prepaid card
• Skrill
• Visa/Mastercard

Explaining Geolocation

Sports bettors in Louisiana may be familiar with the term “geolocation.” In a state where sports betting is not permitted in certain parishes, bettors must familiarize themselves with the software.

Each sportsbook you play on will use geolocation software to ensure you were within a permitted area to use their app.

Users should look for a strong WiFi connection or solid service to optimize performance, so the app does not lag. Sometimes, geolocation software can be confused around state or parish borders. Therefore, ensure you are at least a few miles away from any borders, and your app should not have a problem recognizing what location you are. It is important to note that sportsbooks will block your sportsbook app use if you try to override their geolocation software with any blocked software, such as using a VPN.

Louisiana Sports Betting FAQ

Responsible gambling resources

Betting on sports is meant to be entertainment, similar to watching Netflix or going out to dinner. Putting a few bucks on the game can make it more interesting and entertaining, but, like most things, sports betting is best when done in moderation. For those who think their betting might be out of control, there are many responsible gaming resources available, both state-run and private. Such resources include:

Self-exclusion list – In many states, casinos are required to have a self-exclusion list, which means that if you put yourself on the list because you are trying not to gamble, casinos are legally required to bar you from entering their property.

Deposit and session limits – Sportsbooks often offer ways to limit the amount of money you can deposit in an account, if you are trying to curb your gambling. Sportsbooks can also limit the amount of time you can be logged into the site. This is more common for online casinos, but does apply to sportsbooks as well.

Helplines – There are phone numbers you can call or even text if you think you have a gambling problem. Trained professionals are available to talk to you about your situation and recommend ways to get help.

For more information about problem gambling in Louisiana and other states,visit the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG)’streatment/resource finder by state.

• Call the NCPG: 1-800-522-4700 (24-hour confidential national helpline)
• Text the NCPG: 1-800-522-4700 (24-hour confidential national text service)
• Chat with the NCPG:ncpgambling.org/chat (24-hour confidential national chat service)