How to get a gambling licence in Louisiana: by tender

The Louisiana Gaming Control Board, nine members appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate, decides who is licensed. The State Police Gaming Enforcement Division receives the applications and fees, investigates the applicants and collects the tax.

• There is no separate advertising regulator. The Board makes the rules (LAC 42:VI.517) and the Gaming Enforcement Division checks compliance.
• There is no separate gambling anti-money-laundering authority. The Act adopts the federal Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 as the standard.
• The licence covers retail, kiosk, website and mobile app wagering. There is no licence per product or per channel.
• The Board's register of licensed platforms lists ten sportsbook platform entries and two fantasy sports entries (read 7 November 2026).
• A sports book may not be operated without a licence. Offering online casino or other gambling by computer carries a fine of up to $100,000 and up to five years in prison.

Laws that apply

• Louisiana Sports Wagering Act, R.S. 27:601 to 27:629 (the licence, the platform provider permit, the fees, the tax and the promotional play deduction), with the Board's general powers in R.S. 27:15 and 27:15.1
• LAC Title 42, Part VI (Sports Wagering), made by the Board in January 2022, with Part III (general provisions and self-exclusion) incorporated by reference, and Chapter 9 on the platform
• Louisiana Fantasy Sports Contests Act, R.S. 27:301 to 27:316, with LAC 42, Part VII
• R.S. 27:28 (suitability standards) and R.S. 27:29 to 27:29.5 (permits, gaming suppliers and non-gaming suppliers)
• R.S. 14:90.3 (gambling by computer), as rewritten by Acts 2026 No. 182 from 1 August 2026, with R.S. 27:19.1 and 27:19.2 (cease-and-desist notices and injunctions against unlicensed online gambling)
• R.S. 47:164 (Louisiana income tax withheld on sports wagering and fantasy winnings) and R.S. 47:9091 to 47:9107 (the Louisiana Lottery Corporation's own sports wagering)

Louisiana licenses sports wagering in layers: a capped licence held by a land-based licensee, and permits for the businesses that run or supply the online book. The licences run five years, the fantasy licence three.

• The Board issues no more than 20 sports wagering licences. The Board's annual report for fiscal year 2024-25 states that all 20 eligible casinos applied for and received one, so none was open at that report.
• A licence that becomes available goes first to the casino operator, riverboat licensees and racetrack slots licensees, the last with Racing Commission approval to apply. Video draw poker establishments and fantasy operators without a licence are invited only if those classes decline. A concealed bid is held only if eligible applications exceed the licences open.
• A licensee may contract with no more than two platform providers, each with individually branded websites and a matching app. A platform provider may use only one platform per licensee. The statute caps providers, not brands.
• Platform provider, service provider and distributor permits have no statutory cap and no application window.
• A temporary certificate of authority lasts six months, with one 90-day extension for good cause, and the permit term then runs from the date the certificate was issued.
• Renewal is by a renewal application and the next fee. A renewal application for a sports wagering licence must reach the Division no later than 120 days before the licence expires.
• A fantasy operator whose licence lapses without a timely extension request must file a new initial application.

No minimum share capital, local office or local director is required. What decides an application is suitability, proved by clear and convincing evidence, and for an online operator a platform certified by a designated laboratory.

• A platform provider needs a contract with a licensee before it applies, and the contract must give the Board and Division access to the information the provider holds.
• A foreign company needs a certificate of authority to transact business in Louisiana from the Secretary of State, in good standing. Louisiana law draws no EU, EEA or nationality line, and a licence from outside the United States gives no shortcut.
• A temporary certificate of authority is open to a platform or service provider applicant that holds a gaming licence or permit for similar activity in good standing in Louisiana or another US state.
• No minimum share capital is set. The Board looks at capitalisation, insurance and surety ability and the source of the financing. The one fixed liquidity figure is the player-funds reserve of at least $100,000 or the outstanding liability, whichever is greater.
• Every owner of 5% or more of the ownership, income, profit or economic interest, anyone with significant influence, anyone receiving a 5% revenue interest, and each officer, director and manager files personal history and financial forms and a fingerprint check. Where an owner is a company, its officers, directors and 5% owners file too.
• A licence or permit cannot be granted to a person convicted of an offence punishable by more than one year, theft or fraud, any gambling offence, or a crime of violence, subject to the time-elapsed relief in R.S. 27:28(C)(1). Not being current on Louisiana state or local tax is also a bar, and so is a material false or missing disclosure.
• An operator applicant, which includes a platform provider that runs the book, files a certification report from a designated gaming laboratory showing the platform meets the Act, the rules, the Division's technical guidelines and GLI-33. A report from another US state certifying to GLI-33 v1.1 may be accepted at the Board's discretion.
• The operator designates one or more key employees responsible for the sports book, who need their own permits.

The applicant files the forms and the fee with the Gaming Enforcement Division, which investigates; the Board decides, at a public meeting where licences are awarded competitively.

• The Division receives applications by certified or registered mail, an interstate carrier, electronic submission, hand delivery or another method the Board approves. An application is filed only when the Division has received the application and the fee.
• The forms are DPSSP 6760 (licence), DPSSP 6761 (platform provider) and DPSSP 0073 (Level II Business Application), with a personal history disclosure form for each associated person. An application is incomplete until the fee, signature and all documents are in.
• The application carries the applicant's antecedents, character, business and financial affairs and criminal history, audited financial statements for the three most recent years, company documents, an ownership chart totalling 100%, a corporate structure chart and, for an operator, the laboratory certification report. A licence applicant adds the plan of design of its sports lounge (land-based).
• There is no business plan or financial projection requirement beyond what the Board or Division asks for. Information the Division requests must be provided within 10 days of the written notice, or the application is incomplete.
• There is no statutory deadline for deciding a sports wagering licence or permit application, and no regulator-stated typical timeline. A fantasy sports licence must be issued or denied within 60 days of receipt of an application.
• When a sports wagering licence becomes available, the Board gives eligible entities a date to apply, accepts nothing after it, and requires fingerprints and forms within 30 days after it.
• A contested decision is heard by a hearing officer of the Board's Hearing Office. An appeal from any decision of the Board must be filed in the Nineteenth Judicial District Court within ten days of notice and is reviewed on the record.
• Changes to the application must be reported to the Division, and changes in ownership, finances and out-of-state actions within 15 days.

Application fees are fixed by statute and not refundable. The licence or permit fee is paid with the application and then every five years, with no annual fee.

• There is no separate issuance fee. The licence or permit fee is the first payment, paid at the time of application.
• The applicant also pays the costs of the suitability investigation as the Board determines. A fantasy applicant pays a $15,000 investigation fee at filing, with a top-up if costs exceed it and a refund of any unused part.
• There is no per-brand, per-domain or per-product fee. Each platform provider holds its own permit and pays its own fees, and each key and non-key gaming employee needs a permit too.
• A platform provider entering with one licensee commits $350,000 in statutory fees in year one. The licensee's own year-one fees are $750,000, which the commercial contract may pass on. A first-time service provider pays $22,500.
• No bond or bank guarantee is fixed. The operator must segregate player funds or keep a reserve of at least the greater of $100,000 and the sum of wagers on future events, unpaid winnings and account balances, in cash, a processor reserve, an irrevocable letter of credit, a bond or a mix. Month-end documentation is due by the tenth of the next month, and a shortfall within 48 hours.
• The operator pays all laboratory testing and re-certification costs, and the independent audits. A fantasy operator must have an annual audit by a certified public accountant.

The state tax is on net gaming proceeds, and the rate depends on the channel: 21.5% online and 10% onsite.

• Net gaming proceeds are gross revenue of the wagers placed, less winnings paid, less eligible promotional play. Wagers on pari-mutuel horse racing are outside the base.
• Promotional credits are deductible once redeemed, up to $5 million per licensee per calendar year. A licensee may allocate part of that cap to its platform provider by contract, and the combined claim may not exceed the cap.
• A negative month may be carried forward, but for no more than twelve months after the month in which it was due.
• There is no minimum tax and no advertising or sponsorship tax. Louisiana has no VAT. Whether the state sales tax reaches a sports wager is not stated in the Sports Wagering Act.
• The payer of sports wagering or fantasy winnings withholds Louisiana income tax at 3%, the highest rate in R.S. 47:32(A), whenever federal tax must be withheld, and reports the winners to the Department of Revenue by 31 January.
• A platform provider or supplier pays permit fees only. No gambling-specific tax falls on a supplier's revenue.

Louisiana has no stand-alone game supplier licence for online sports wagering, because only sports betting is licensed online. Suppliers are permitted by what they do, and the platform is certified as a whole.

• A business that manages or operates part of the sports book (odds, trading, accounts, wallet) needs the platform provider permit. A supplier of geolocation, patron identification, risk management, player account system or integrity monitoring needs a service provider permit. Anyone else that supplies, sells, leases or repairs gaming equipment needs a gaming supplier permit.
• Payment processors, affiliates, marketing agencies and similar businesses are non-gaming suppliers. They file a Level II Business Application for a non-gaming supplier permit unless the Division grants a waiver or exemption.
• There is no public register of service providers, distributors or gaming suppliers. The Board's register of licensed platforms lists the platform providers and the fantasy operators.
• The platform must be approved by the Board and certified by a designated gaming laboratory before it books a wager. The rules adopt GLI-33 version 1.1 and any future amendments. GLI published version 2.0 on 3 November 2026, and whether the Division treats it as binding is not stated.
• The servers that process sports wagers must be physically in Louisiana, in a restricted area the Division approves. Other servers may be outside the state, and cloud computing is permitted for them.
• Geolocation is mandatory. A wager may not be placed from outside Louisiana or from the nine parishes that voted against sports wagering: Caldwell, Catahoula, Franklin, Jackson, LaSalle, Sabine, Union, West Carroll and Winn. A wager from a prohibited parish must be reported to the Division immediately.
• The operator gives the Division access to wagering data and a way to query and export all platform data. Reporting is periodic, with no continuous feed required. Records are kept five years.
• An independent professional approved by the Division assesses system integrity and security within 90 days of starting and every year after.
• Only events, wager categories and wager types the Board has approved may be offered, as listed in its Sports Wagering Catalog. No maximum stake or winnings is set, but a wager or payout above $10,000 must be stopped until a supervisor authorises it.

Players must be 21 and verified before the first online wager, and operators must offer limits, a cooling-off and the state self-exclusion list.

• The minimum age is 21. The operator collects the legal name, date of birth, Social Security number or its last four digits (or an equivalent for a non-citizen), residential address, email and telephone number, and verifies the account before accepting an online wager.
• Funding sources are cash or check at the premises (land-based), online and mobile payment systems, winnings, reloadable prepaid cards, promotional play and any other method the Board approves. Withdrawals must be allowed within five business days of a request. Cryptocurrency is not addressed.
• The Board keeps one Self-Exclusion List with a five-year minimum. It binds every licensed sports wagering platform, and operators get additions within two business days and must refuse wagers from listed persons.
• Operators must let players set limits on time, on a single wager and on deposits, and offer a self-restriction of at least 30 days. No reality check is required.
• The toll-free problem-gambling number and message go on the platform, every website and every advertisement. Operators train employees on problem gambling.

Sports wagering advertising is allowed in every medium. There is no pre-approval, and the Board's content rules apply to the operator even where a platform provider or affiliate places the advertisement.

• An advertisement must not contain false or misleading information, hide conditions or limiting factors, depict minors, misrepresent the frequency or extent of winning, encourage chasing losses or suggest wagering solves financial problems.
• No individually targeted advertising may go to a self-restricted, self-excluded or under-21 person. Advertising at primary or secondary schools and venues used only for them is barred.
• Television, radio, billboard and online advertisements each carry the problem-gambling number in the size and manner the rule sets. There is no watershed and no restriction during live sports.
• Free bets and promotional play are permitted and are tested against the general content rules. No instrument caps wagering requirements, bans "risk-free" claims or restricts celebrity or influencer use.
• A platform provider's advertising must identify the licensee on whose behalf it operates. The operator keeps a copy of all advertising and gives it to the Division on request.

Operators file monthly, verify quarterly and commission audits every year, and report incidents to the Board and Division promptly.

• AML: operators follow the federal Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 in daily operations. Internal controls cover limits on anonymous kiosk wagering, structuring, and payouts or wagers over $10,000. No local AML officer is required.
• Suspicious or illegal wagering, including laundering, is reported promptly to the Board. The Division takes suspicious activity reports at [email protected]. Unusual wagering goes to an integrity monitoring provider or the Division.
• A transfer of 5% or more of an ownership interest, or any change of control, needs prior written approval, and a transfer without it is void. The application fee for that approval is $50,000.
• A platform or provider change needs approval, and a licensee may use no more than two platform providers. A domain change is not separately regulated.
• Records are kept five years in a place the Division approves. Complaint records are kept five years, and a player may take a complaint to the Board or Division directly.
• The register is the Board's Licensed Platforms page. It lists ten sportsbook platform entries and two fantasy sports entries (read 7 November 2026), and no service providers, distributors or gaming suppliers.

The route most online entrants take: a platform provider permit, applied for once a licensee has agreed to contract, with the service provider and supplier route below.

1. 01

   Choose your route

   R.S. 27:604 · 27:605 · 27:306

   Decide whether you will be a platform provider for a licensee, a supplier, or a fantasy sports operator. Online casino and poker have no licence, and all 20 sports wagering licences are held.

2. 02

   Sign a licensee

   R.S. 27:605(B) · 27:609(C)(1)

   Contract with a casino, riverboat or racetrack licensee to run all or part of its sports book. A licensee may use no more than two platform providers, and answers for their conduct.

3. 03

   Prepare the disclosures and the certification

   LAC 42:VI.307 · 42:VI.309

   Assemble three years of audited statements, the ownership and structure charts, personal forms and fingerprints for every 5% owner, officer and director, and the laboratory certification report against GLI-33.

4. 04

   File with the Division and pay the fees

   R.S. 27:622 · DPSSP 6761

   File form DPSSP 6761 and the Level II Business Application with the Gaming Enforcement Division, with $100,000 to apply and $250,000 for the five-year permit. Answer any request for more information within 10 days.

5. 05

   Ask for a temporary certificate if eligible

   R.S. 27:606 · LAC 42:VI.317

   An applicant with a complete application, all fees and a similar US licence in good standing may be given a temporary certificate of authority for six months, with one 90-day extension.

6. 06

   Fund the reserve and go live

   LAC 42:VI.705 · 42:VI.901

   Segregate player funds or hold the reserve of at least $100,000, put servers in Louisiana, set up geofencing for the nine non-approving parishes, and offer only events and wager types in the Board's catalog.

7. 07

   Keep filing and renew

   R.S. 27:625 · LAC 42:VI.307(B)(3)

   Pay the 21.5% tax by the 20th of each month, file the reserve and quarterly reports and the annual audits, and renew a licence 120 days before the five-year term ends.

For businesses that supply geolocation, patron identification, risk management, player accounts or integrity monitoring (service provider), kiosks (distributor) or equipment (gaming supplier). The Board issues the permit after the Division investigates.

1. 01

   Confirm the class

   LAC 42:VI.303(F)(2) · R.S. 27:29.2

   A business that supplies the listed support services needs a service provider permit, and one that supplies or repairs equipment needs a gaming supplier permit. A payment processor, affiliate or agency is a non-gaming supplier that may seek a waiver.

2. 02

   File the application and the fee

   R.S. 27:623 · 27:624

   File the licensing forms with the Division from its forms page, with $10,000 to apply and $12,500 for a service provider, or $5,000 and $2,500 for a distributor.

3. 03

   Disclose owners and key persons

   LAC 42:VI.307(D)

   Every owner of 5% or more, each officer, director and manager, and anyone with significant influence files personal forms and fingerprints.

4. 04

   Hold the permit and renew

   R.S. 27:29 · 27:623(B)

   The permit runs five years, is not transferable and is a revocable privilege. Changes to the application are reported to the Division within 15 business days.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 9 Nov 2026.