Louisiana may join small group of states to allow online lottery sales
The dust may have settled on Nevada‘s lottery ambitions, but over 1,800km away to the southeast the state of Louisiana is moving forward with some interesting digitisation plans.
A piece of draft legislation, House Bill 228, was submitted to the state House of Representatives by Vanessa Caston LaFleur on 1 April which, if passed, will permit online lottery sales in the state.
Although 45 of the US’ 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have a state lottery, only a few permit online lottery sales with the vast majority instead only allow customers to buy tickets via licensed lottery retailers.
As it stands, only Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee and West Virginia allow the state lottery to sell tickets directly to customers via online sales. LaFleur and other supporters of HB228 hope that Louisiana will join this small group.
In doing so, legislators believe that the lottery would be able to increase its revenues substantially, perhaps even by the tens of millions. This would subsequently be directed back to state coffers and support various initiatives throughout Louisiana.
Legal considerations
Allowing the Louisiana Lottery Corporation (LLC) to take its business online would also enable the lottery to begin offering instant win and online scratch card games – this is the main element where Rep LaFleur may find opposition.
Louisiana has very strict laws around betting and gaming, with only online sports betting permitted while online casino games and poker, among others, are banned under state law. Casinos are allowed, but are for the most part restricted to riverboat casinos.
HB228 includes a stipulation that would not classify online lotteries as a form of online gambling. However, the inclusion of instant win games could raise some eyebrows among some members of Louisiana’s 105 state representatives and 39 members of the Louisiana State Senate.
Could this cut out couriers?
Another interesting element to consider is the role of lottery couriers. As stated above, the vast majority of US states do not allow online lottery sales, and this has created a gap in the market for lottery courier companies.
These firms offer a service to lottery customers, who purchase a ticket via a courier’s app which is then purchased on their behalf at a retailer by the courier. Notable courier firms include Lottery.com, Jackpocket, Jackpot.com and The Lotter, which have all launched across multiple states, though none are active in Louisiana.
The prospect of launching in Louisiana may now be off the table for couriers, if it ever was on the table to begin with, that is, should the legislation be adopted by the state legislature – with an online offering for customers, demand for lottery couriers would significantly reduce.
Louisiana may also be looking to its neighbour to the west, Texas, when allowing online lottery sales. Lottery couriers have been embroiled in a lot of controversy in Texas lately and have found themselves at the centre of a debate around lottery integrity.
This is of course speculation, however, and no statements from Louisiana representatives suggest this is a motive, and unlike other states like Arizona, Louisiana has shown no eagerness to regulate couriers.
Regulating couriers has only been done by two states so far, New York and New Jersey, while Wisconsin, Indiana and Virginia have outright banned couriers.
https://lotterydaily.com/2025/04/24/highlighted/louisiana-lottery-online/