Last fall voters in 47 out of 64 parishes approved online fantasy sports betting, and now lawmakers are tasked with figuring out how to regulate the game in the session that kicks off today.
River Ridge Representative Kirk Talbot says they plan on copying the laws passed in other states, but are considering one change…
“It lists the age of 18, but we might move that back to 21. We need to look at what is consistent with other states like Mississippi next door, which has fantasy sports.”
Talbot says the legislation will include “geo fencing” that tracks a users location, and blocks their access to the game once they cross into one of the 17 that denied legalization, much like players from across state lines deal with now…
“Right now you can play fantasy sports in Mississippi, but right now, as soon as you drive over into Louisiana you get knocked off, and when you are in Louisiana you cannot log into FanDuel or DraftKings.
The majority of the parishes who did not legalize the game are in north and central Louisiana.
The River Ridge Republican says he doesn’t expect fantasy sports to be much of a revenue generator, as the average player doesn’t spend more than a few hundred dollars, but…
“If we can give some to the locals then we need to do that, so we are looking to see how feasible that is and how to make that work.”
