- DraftKings has been approved to operate in Louisiana.
- The company will be up and running in the state as soon as possible - it could be a matter of hours.
- The approval was given by the Louisiana Gaming Control Board on Thursday.
BATON ROUGE - DraftKings has received approval to operate daily fantasy sports in Louisiana, and is set to begin doing so as soon as possible. On Thursday, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board approved DraftKings’ application for a DFS operator license, which made DraftKings the first DFS operator approved by Louisiana.
DraftKings beat out competitor FanDuel in terms of getting approved, which is a win for the daily fantasy sports giant.
DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish issued a statement in praise of the deal that touted the area’s rich sports culture.
“As DraftKings continues our nationwide expansion, we welcome Louisiana to the DraftKings family, an area rich with culture, heritage, and die-hard fan bases in both professional and college sports,” said Kalish. “The Bayou will now have access to our world-leading daily fantasy sports product as we ramp up toward the kickoff of football season.”
Expectations For Louisiana NFL Betting
As a celebration of their launch, DraftKings is offering a small promotional bonus to those who sign up and deposit early. Anyone in Louisiana who deposits more than $5 as their first deposit will receive a free entry to any $3 contest that they want.
It’s not the world’s largest promotion, but it’s a solid freebie for a community that has long been starved of legit ways to wager on sports.
Louisiana recently legalized sports betting in 55 of its 64 parishes and seems to be making moves to get as much of a sports wagering community up and running as possible before the NFL season starts.
While the argument over whether or not DFS constitutes sports betting is ongoing, it seems undeniable that Louisiana’s sports bettors will have more options going into the 2021 NFL season than they did last year.
Now that DraftKings has received approval from the Louisiana Gaming Control Board, Louisiana becomes the 44th jurisdiction within the U.S. (including Washington D.C.) to offer DraftKings’ daily fantasy sports options.
The upside for online gambling fans seems clear - more options is good, and DFS getting approval to enter the state early means that those who wish to gamble on the NFL's upcoming season could be in luck.