Louisiana LGCB grants DraftKings four-month licence extension pending AI review

According to a report by Jerome García published on 19 October 2026, the Louisiana Gaming Control Board (LGCB) gave DraftKings conditional approval for a four-month licence extension, with the vote taken unanimously on Thursday. A final decision is expected the day after a planned licence hearing on 18 February 2027. DraftKings' current licence expires on 10 November 2026, and the company will continue operating under the interim arrangement without interruption in service.

The board deferred a final ruling while it studies how sports betting companies use artificial intelligence in customer practices. The report links the review to a New York Times article that interviewed former company employees, who argued that AI was employed to encourage gamblers showing a greater propensity to wager larger sums, using promotions and bonus inducements, a practice internally called "elasticity." The LGCB also deferred its decision because the Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division recently found that certain shareholders holding 5% or more of the company had not gone through the customary suitability report. Assistant attorney general Dalancy Houston said those shareholders need to be labelled institutional, and that a final decision in the matter is still pending.

Houston said the investigation is incomplete and that the division has concerns about recent allegations against DraftKings, requiring additional time to investigate them fully. DraftKings President of Operations and cofounder Paul Liberman appeared before the LGCB to discuss the concerns. Liberman said DraftKings kept records of all customers and understood which gambler was "winning or losing," but denied that AI was used in the way the reporting implied, or that DraftKings would use the technology to harm consumers.

The LGCB agreed there was no evidence that DraftKings was breaching any licensing or moral obligation, but Chairman Chris Hebert said the board was nevertheless obligated to investigate further. Hebert described the proposal as something other than a finding of misconduct by DraftKings, calling it instead a measured regulatory response that lets the board fulfil its oversight responsibility.