The day before the opening of the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) in New Orleans, legislators from Louisiana began to learn about online gaming.
At a hearing held by the Senate Judiciary Revenue and Fiscal Committee of the Louisiana State Legislature, many land-based casino operators expressed support for the legalization of online gaming. However, the Cordish Company held an opposing stance.
A consultant pointed out that Cordish's position was contradictory. The company is lobbying against the digital expansion of the gaming industry in Louisiana, yet it operates an online casino in Pennsylvania.
For Cordish, the opposing stance is not new. The company has physical casinos in Florida, Louisiana, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. Earlier this year, it won the rights to build casinos in New Hampshire and Virginia. When Maryland legislators pushed for the legalization of online casinos in 2024, Cordish fought back. At that time, company representatives described casinos as "job killers," their "revenue forecasts too high," which would hinder economic development, and "erode gaming tax revenue."
However, the company is in the minority among casino operators. Representatives from Boyd Gaming, which operates five casinos in Louisiana, and Caesars Entertainment, which owns three casinos in Louisiana, enthusiastically supported the expansion. Former Michigan legislator and current Director of Government Relations for Fanatics Betting & Gaming, Brandt Iden, also expressed support.
Representatives from Boyd and Caesars described igaming as an "add-on product" to their businesses. They stated that online gambling attracts a "different type of" consumer compared to physical casinos. Ashley Menou Center, Director of Government Relations at Boyd, stated that online gambling "does not take players away from physical casinos but brings new players into the market."
Cordish: For Louisiana, igaming is a "bad bet"
But Cordish and the Louisiana Video Gaming Association (LVGA) proposed a different agenda. In his opening remarks, Cordish's Chief Legal Counsel Mark Stewart called online casinos a "bad bet" for Louisiana. He then showed photos of land properties, some with casinos and some without. He also showed a photo of a job fair and said, "It must be pointed out that you will never see such a thing in igaming."
Stewart continued, stating that while the economic returns are considerable (although somewhat exaggerated), the social costs of online gaming are "too high." He showed a Deutsche Bank slide indicating that in three states with live online gaming, physical casino revenues fell by 11.7%. In contrast, in six states without legal online gaming, revenue grew by 17.7%.
Stewart shared numerous charts. He shared data showing physical casino losses and hindered growth in legal gaming states. He also presented statistics on the increase in gambling addiction in legal gaming markets.
He then called online casinos "gambling fentanyl" and shared that since the launch of digital sports betting in 2022, calls to the Louisiana gambling hotline had surged by 335%, pointing out other jurisdictions' failed online gambling experiences.
The more gambling = the more chances of addiction
Problem and Responsible Gambling Advocate Brianne Doura-Schawohl supported Stewart's views. She stated that when illegal and legal gambling combine in the same market, problem gambling issues intensify. She argued that "legalization is not the solution. Gambling addiction is not a personal issue, but a family issue, a community issue, and a global issue."
Doura-Schawohl was testifying for the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG).
Stewart also argued that other casino companies support online expansion as an "excuse" to curb the black market. One of the reports Stewart cited was a report commissioned by CFG and written by YieldSec. The 2024 Super Bowl report showed that illegal bets were twice the amount of legal bets. The report also showed that the illegal market accounted for 65% of all bets. However, Stewart did not indicate that part of the report was compiled through predictions. There is no way to accurately track the illegal market's bets.
Regulus Partners stated in February that illegal gambling companies accounted for 19% of traditional gambling participation. Regulus also stated that legal gambling companies accounted for 45% of all Super Bowl bets. This figure is much higher than the numbers published by CFG.
Gambling taxes saved Detroit
From a broader perspective, even legal operators agree that the black market dominates. However, the goal of legalization is to curb the black market. American consumers have already started participating—Stewart stated in his testimony that online casinos are "like opening a casino in your bedroom." Except for seven states, consumers in all states play games without consumer protection or guarantees of winning.
Following the Cordish representative, one of the biggest supporters of legal casinos, Iden, also made a speech. Iden was the architect of the 2019 Michigan law legalizing digital sports betting and online casinos.
One of the advantages Iden shared was that in Michigan, "casinos have to pay taxes every day. Taxes are due by 4:59 PM every day... The mayor of Detroit has spoken to me multiple times about this issue, saying, 'Brandt, thanks to this legislation in Michigan, I was able to keep the military stationed on the front lines, keep emergency responders here, and keep our streetlights on. When the pandemic hit this city the hardest, the online gaming industry was there.' This is a touching statement from a city that has experienced turbulent times."
Video Lottery Companies: This is our "bonus"
Sitting with Iden as a witness was Alton Ashy, representing the LVGA. He stated that legal online gaming "is the way to go for video poker. We will die on this hill. There's nothing we oppose more."
Ashy stated that this has "absolutely no benefit" for the state government and criticized the tax rate for digital sports betting. The tax rate for digital gaming is 15%, while the tax rate for video lottery games is 32%. He also stated that any money earned by online casino operators would flow out of the state. Additionally, he believed that if online casinos had been legal five years ago, it is unlikely that Caesars or other physical casino operators would have invested in physical casinos.
But industry organization iDEA Growth consultant John Pappas condemned Cordish and LVGA.
"I find Cordish's views interesting... when you realize they are online casino operators in other states," he testified. Pappas then read content from Cordish's Pennsylvania online casino website, which described its product as "the hottest action in your hand."
Pappas expressed his hope to "make those who might oppose implementing this policy in Louisiana realize that they indeed see opportunities for themselves and their casinos in other jurisdictions." Senator Mike Reese interjected, saying he had spoken with Cordish's representatives, who stated they would definitely participate in Louisiana's legal market, but they hoped to stop this market.
"This is a very interesting principal position," Pappas said.
Regarding LVGA's concerns, Pappas pointed out that a Spectrum study commissioned by Wyoming found that the VGT gaming market in West Virginia (one of the studied states) "was not eroded" and that the study indicated that "igaming adds value to the casino and distributed gaming industry, rather than eroding its market share."
