By: Julie O’Donoghue | Louisiana Illuminator
Louisiana prohibits casino companies and executives from making state political contributions, but that same ban doesn’t apply to sports gambling operations.
A sport betting company and its senior management can still make political donations, even if the business is a subsidiary of a larger gambling enterprise prohibited from doing so, according to the Louisiana Board of Ethics.
The ethics board issued an advisory opinion last week to American Wagering Inc., saying the company, as well as its officers and directors, can legally give to political candidates. The political activity is allowed even though the mobile and retail sports betting company, which goes by the name Caesars Sportsbook Louisiana, is owned by the gambling conglomerate, Caesars Entertainment Inc.
In addition to having a sportsbook, Caesars Entertainment Inc. owns three casinos in Louisiana — Caesars New Orleans, Horseshoe Lake Charles and Horseshoe Bossier City. A state law from 1996 prohibits those casinos, their parent company and the casinos’ executive managers from making political contributions.
But the ethics board concluded the campaign contribution restriction doesn’t apply to the sports betting company or its executives, unless they also hold senior positions with Caesars Entertainment Inc. or the company’s casinos.
“There is no provision under which [the political contribution ban] applies to AWI directly,” ethics board attorney Charles Reeves wrote in the board’s opinion approved last week.
The board’s decision is the latest strike against the state’s efforts to block the gambling industry’s influence from state politics. The campaign contribution ban was put in place to create some distance between the gambling industry and Louisiana politicians following the botched rollout of riverboat casinos in the early 1990s.
The Louisiana Supreme Court first chipped away at the ban in 1996 by ruling it was unconstitutional for video poker operators that run operate in smaller venues like truck stops. However, the court’s decision did not apply to larger casinos, which are still subject to the prohibition today.
Last week’s advisory opinion is the latest of three from the ethics board that indicate sports betting companies can make political donations.
In 2022, the ethics board also told the Sports Betting Alliance, a trade association for online and retail sports betting companies, that it was allowed to make political contributions, even if one of its members was prohibited from doing so.
In 2023, the board said Fanatics Betting and Gaming, an online betting company which is not affiliated with a casino company, could also contribute to political campaigns.
From July 2023 through June 2024, Louisiana’s riverboat casinos had $1.7 billion of adjusted gross revenue and the New Orleans casino brought in $240.5 million in gaming revenue. Video poker machines had net device revenue of $749.8 million. In-person sports betting produced net proceeds of $29.8 million and mobile sports betting produced net proceeds of $358.2 million.