Louisiana, Maryland and South Dakota pass betting in Election referendum

Louisiana and Maryland voted yes to passing state-wide sports betting as part of their November 3 election ballots as South Dakota approved wagering in tribal casinos and the city of Deadwood. Louisiana saw 55 of its 64 parishes (counties) vote yes to betting, accounting for 97% of the state’s population. Major metropolitan areas New Orleans and Baton Rouge were among those in favor of legal betting. DraftKings VP government affairs Griffin Finan told EGR North America the operator was looking forward to working alongside lawmakers and regulators to determine the state’s wagering framework.

MD was the biggest prize in last night's #sportsbetting ballot results, which also included LA and SD. MD indexes higher than LA and SD on key drivers of market size, including population, wealth, internet penetration, and sports fandom, per our research.

— Chris Krafcik (@ckrafcik) November 4, 2020

In Maryland, 66% voted in favor of sports betting two weeks after a poll by Our Voice Maryland estimated 52% of voters would support the initiative. In October, Maryland Governor Larry Hogan announced he was backing the “Vote Yes to Question 2” campaign. DraftKings’ Finan said: “We’re thrilled that Marylanders voted yes on Question 2, a critical step to bringing legal sports betting to the state. “We look forward to continuing to work with Maryland lawmakers and officials to develop a consumer-centric sports betting framework that will provide much-needed revenue for public education while pulling bettors off of the illegal market,” he added. Both states still need to present bills and subsequent legislation before wagering can be set live, and neither has set out a clear timetable to do so. In November last year, Colorado voted to legalize betting via a referendum, when the regulator set out an ambitious timeframe of six months to get wagering live. Legislators in Maryland will likely discuss the matter during the General Assembly’s January session, while Louisiana legislators will meet between April and June to discuss regulations and tax rates. The South Dakota referendum approved wagering in the city of Deadwood, as well as all tribal venues in the state. US gambling stocks were up on early trading following the positive results from Maryland and Louisiana.