Forgotten Funds from Inactive LA Sports Betting Accounts Moved After 3 Years

• By New Law, LA Can Move Inactive Sports Betting Cash into Unclaimed Property Fund
• State of Louisiana Already Moves Inactive Funds from Other Online Services
• Legal Sports Betting Launched in Louisiana in January 2022, $1B Handle Reached

Louisiana sports bettors had best start keeping better track of their gambling kitties because the state just passed a law that says that as of August 1, 2022, the treasury department can move any of those funds that lie dormant for three years into the state’s unclaimed property fund.

The legislation that led to the law was called Act 510, and Governor John Bel Edwards signed the bill last month in June, so starting next month bettors have to keep track of their gambling funds and keep their address information current or risk losing them as unclaimed property.

The wording of the law essentially states that any money left in a sportsbook account for over three years by a user whose last known address is known to be incorrect and who has not attempted to contact the operator about those funds is up for grabs by the state treasury.

Louisiana law allows legal sports gambling in 55 of its 64 parishes, so this affects a great deal of the population there, a move that should surprise nobody since the state already does the same thing with funds from other online services.

State of Louisiana Already Moves Inactive Funds from Other Online Services

For anyone shocked that Louisiana will be legally allowed to keep those inactive funds after three years, they should know that the state already does this with other online operators as a way to keep inactive accounts cleared and as an extra source of income for the state.

Louisiana mobile consumers who use any of the most popular commercial apps and sites like Amazon, eBay, iTunes, and PayPal must also keep their account information up to date because accounts inactive after five years can be likewise shifted into unclaimed funds.

It’s an economic tactic that makes financial sense for the state, as Louisiana State Treasurer John Schroder has told the media:

The money can’t help stimulate Louisiana’s economy while it’s sitting gathering dust in an account somewhere. A three-year holding period brings the accounts into Unclaimed Property’s custody sooner, and we have a better chance of finding the owners (or their heirs) if we start looking for them sooner rather than later.

Chances are as time passes by, Louisiana’s legal sports betting market will be stimulating the state’s economy a great deal if the action it’s produced so far is any indication.

Legal Sports Betting Launched in Louisiana in January 2022, $1B Handle Reached

Legal sports betting launched in Louisiana in January 2022, and since then according to industry revenue trackers, the state has generated over a $1 billion handle which represents the total number of wagers placed there since the end of the first month.

Since Louisiana has come late to the legal sports betting market where over thirty other states have been launching their operations since the fall of 2018, it has a lot of catching up to do, though so far the $12.7 million in tax revenue it’s been able to generate is nothing to ignore.

It takes time for a state’s new sports betting market to grow as they gain new customers, and the sports seasons continue to roll on, and with the NFL and NCAA Football season now in the mix, the NO Saints and LSU Tigers will join in the fun, just be sure to keep track of your kitties.