Construction will begin this fall on a Barstool Sportsbook at L’Auberge Baton Rouge. The casino will remodel a 4,650-square-foot area that currently includes the poker room and a bar. The project also will include a second smoking terrace with table games and more than 100 slot and video poker machines. Work is expected to be completed in early 2022.
L’Auberge Director of Marketing Cheryl Duhon said L’Auberge will move forward with the sportsbook even though the casino cannot as yet apply for a sports betting license. She explained the Louisiana Gaming Control Board currently is developing sports wagering regulations, such as internal controls, operating procedures and the mobile betting platforms’ technical elements.
Penn National owns a 36 percent share of the popular digital media platform Barstool Sports, which operates inside casinos in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Duhon said L’Auberge will open a temporary sportsbook.
She said the poker room and a new bar will be relocated to another area of the casino. The smoking patio opened in March 2019, several months after a non-smoking ordinance banning smoking in most public places took effect.
The 3,700-square-foot smoking patio offers more than 120 slot and video poker machines. Duhon said the machines have triple the play as busy as those in the rest of the casino. As a result, L’Auberge will open a second smoking terrace which will include table games−a first for Penn National Gaming.
