Louisiana’s Coushatta Casino Resort opened the doors to its “The Rez Sportsbook” on Wednesday. Members of the Coushatta Tribe Council, and former NFL players and Super Bowl champions Rickey Jackson, Owen Daniels and Drew Pearson attended the event and were the first three to place their bets.
Southwest Louisiana now has three sports betting locations including Coushatta Casino Resort, The Golden Nugget Casino and L’Auberge Casino Resort Lake Charles.
The Rez Sportsbook is officially open! 🎉🎉 Thank you to all who joined us or tuned in for the Grand Opening this morning! pic.twitter.com/BBZl5vQaVR
— Coushatta Resort (@CoushattaResort) December 2, 2021
The Rez features staffed cage windows, 18 self-service kiosks located inside the venue and on the gaming floor and over 40 giant TVs for guests to watch the sporting events. Cocktails, craft beets and bar fare are also available.
Coushatta chairman Jonathon Cernek said: “This offers another amenity to this already amazing resort. This is a sports lover’s dream right here, and to be able to present this as a place for people to come and put your bets down, it really does offer something for the whole family now”.
Former all-pro linebacker Rickey Jackson added: “It’s good because if they can come here and they can have fun you have a casino hotel they have everything here so it’s a good weekend you can get away. Stuff like this is just great, you don’t have to go to other towns and other states. They’re bringing everything right here to you so it’s great for the whole region.”
Retail wagering took off in Louisiana in October. Caesars’ two casinos and Penn National’s properties in the state started taking on-site bets early November.
With mobile sports wagering still pending regulatory approval, sports fans in the region will be able to place their wagers in-person, at the sportsbooks inside casinos and racetracks. According to Ronnie Johns, Louisiana Gaming Control Board Chairman, these sportsbooks are expected to be up and running by 2022 before the casinos begin offering mobile online betting options.
On October 22, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board voted unanimously for FanDuel to join DraftKings in launching fantasy sports contests in the 47 parishes allowed to have the gaming after the November 2018 election outcome. DraftKings has been up and running in Louisiana for months.
