A Louisiana lawmaker got a math lesson Tuesday when a fiscal note on a bill that would ban proposition bets estimated the state would lose $28.9 million in tax revenue annually. Prop bets represent about 40% of all revenue for online sports betting operators and 13% for retail sportsbooks.
Whether to keep or kill prop bets is a hot topic around the country. The NCAA over the last year has been lobbying for prop bets on college players to be banned, and after betting scandals in Major League Baseball and the NBA, there have been calls from the leagues and other stakeholders to limit such bets. But just four years in, Louisiana lawmakers aren’t willing to give up the revenue.
Sen. Katrina Jackson-Andrews found herself in a conundrum after reading the fiscal note on SB 354. On one hand, she told the Judiciary B Committee, the state would lose $15 million in general fund revenue alone. On the other, she wants to find a way to protect young adults, in particular, from the potential for gambling harm. She decided to pull the bill from consideration for this session.
A day before Jackson-Andrews pulled her bill, Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a bill that would allow for some additional prop betting in his state. Washington state only has in-person wagering and up to now has not allowed college props. But the new law, backed by the state’s tribes — which control Class III gaming — will expand offerings to include those on college teams and games. College player props, however, remain banned.
The new law becomes effective June 11.
In other news …
Here’s a look at the status of some other active bills around the U.S.:
Kentucky: An amended bill that would require sports betting operators to take wagers of up to $1,000 and raise the minimum age from 18 to 21 passed the Senate Wednesday and was sent to Gov. Andy Beshear for signature Thursday. If Beshear approves HB 904, Kentucky would be the first state to pass a law mandating that operators take bets up to a certain amount. Legislation around the country on the issue of bet sizes has largely centered on bet minimums and operator-imposed limitations on bettors, usually more sophisticated “sharps.”
The Senate amended the bill to make it illegal for existing licensees to offer prediction markets. It also creates a licensing and tax structure for daily fantasy sports platforms, and would make it illegal to place prop bets on a negative outcome of a performance by an athlete at a Kentucky college.
Beshear has 10 days, not including Sundays, to sign or allow the bill to become law without his signature.
Wisconsin: AB 601, approved by the Senate March 17, was sent to Gov. Tony Evers Thursday for his signature. The bill would allow for statewide mobile sports betting with the tribes as license holders. Wisconsin’s tribes already offer in-person sports betting. Evers, who is expected to sign the bill, has six days (not including Sunday) to act. Should he choose not to sign or veto the bill, it would become law without his signature.
At the Indian Gaming Association annual conference in San Diego this week, Oneida Nation Chair Tehassi Hill said, “A lot of eyes are on Wisconsin, and hopefully we’ll get the governor’s signature and move into compact negotiations. [All the tribes] are traditionally competitors, but today is a new world, and hopefully we can come together and help each other to be successful.”
The new bill allows for each of the 11 gaming tribes to have an online sports betting platform and partner with a management services provider to offer wagering. Wisconsin will become the second state after Florida to give its tribes a statewide monopoly under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The state will require management services providers to give the tribes 60% of revenue.
