It was “taboo” for Jake Delhomme to talk about gambling when he was in the NFL. However, earlier this month, the now-retired, Louisiana-born quarterback found himself talking about just that before a legislative committee in his home state.
The type of gambling that Delhomme was there to lobby the Louisiana House of Representatives’ Commerce Committee for was fixed-odds betting on horse racing, a sport near and dear to the Delhomme family.
“I kind of laugh,” Delhomme told the committee. “It was taboo to talk about wagering in the NFL when we played. I mean, we couldn't even speak about it. And now it's kind of tied in with everything in the NFL, and that's just kind of a huge revenue stream that they've tapped [into].”
Key Insights
- The number of states with fixed-odds wagering on horse racing could double this year, to four, as the sport looks to attract more betting business.
- Colorado and New Jersey already permit fixed-odds wagering, lawmakers in West Virginia passed fixed-odds legislation earlier this year, and now a fixed-odds bill in Louisiana is progressing.
- Former NFL quarterback and horse owner Jake Delhomme testified in support of the Louisiana fixed-odds bill.
Delhomme and others are eyeing a similar revenue stream for Louisiana’s horse racing industry, using fixed-odds wagering. And before the committee was a bill, House Bill 547, that would authorize fixed-odds wagering and dedicate a cut of the action to that industry.
H.B. 547's sponsor, Republican Rep. Chad Boyer, called the measure a "forward-looking step" to modernize the state's racing industry. It would, he said, provide bettors with a "more predictable and attractive alternative" to the traditional pari-mutuel wagering system.
“Fixed-odds betting is already gaining traction in other states, [and] allows a wager to be locked in at the posted odds, much like sports betting,” Boyer told the committee members on May 12. “By adopting this model, we not only offer a more competitive product to racing fans, but we also create a new revenue stream that will directly support our local racing associations through a dedicated purse supplemental fund.”
About 20 minutes later, the House Commerce Committee favorably and unanimously reported H.B. 547, advancing the legislation and improving its chances of becoming law. The bill was recommitted to the House's appropriations committee, where it was favorably reported again on Tuesday.
Larry Collmus was blown away watching Journalism’s incredible Preakness win! #Preakness150 pic.twitter.com/4LzUl1WeSi
— NBC Sports (@NBCSports) May 18, 2025
So legislation that would authorize fixed-odds wagering in Louisiana is making progress, albeit with the state legislature currently set to adjourn on the not-so-distant date of June 12.
That progress also follows lawmakers in West Virginia passing legislation earlier this year to legalize fixed-odds wagering on dog and horse races. West Virginia’s decision made it the third state to authorize fixed-odds wagering on horse racing after Colorado and New Jersey.
So, while adoption has been slow, success in Louisiana could mean the number of states with legalized fixed-odds racing could double this year. That might embolden lawmakers in other states to follow suit in 2026 and beyond.
Adapt or die?
Why the horse racing industry is interested in fixed odds is pretty simple: The sport is built on betting and needs wagering to survive and thrive. However, under the pari-mutuel model of wagering that is predominantly used for horse racing in Canada and the U.S., thoroughbred betting handle has been falling.
Last year was the third consecutive year in which overall wagering on U.S. racing declined, falling 3.35% to approximately $11.3 billion. And that decline is happening as the amount of money Americans are wagering on other, stick-and-ball sports is shooting up. For example, more than $20 billion was bet using online sportsbooks in New York alone over the past year.
“If horse racing doesn’t change soon, it won’t be here,” said Bill Pascrell III, a partner at Princeton Public Affairs Group and a longtime gaming industry lobbyist, in an interview with Covers earlier this year.
Recent betting figures for the first two jewels of the 2025 Triple Crown, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, suggest that bettors are still going to turn up for the biggest of the big races. But the Kentucky Derby doesn’t run every weekend, and not every race has 20 horses in it keeping odds nice and enticing for bettors on a daily basis.
That’s where there is friction for the horse racing industry in its quest to attract more wagering by the growing army of stick-and-ball bettors. Because, when someone goes to bet a horse at 5/1 on a random day at a random track, it’s not uncommon for their expected payouts to come in lighter when the final odds for the horse end up shorter.
“I've seen young folks not understanding that when they put $10 on a horse to win at 7/1, by the time the jump starts, the odds have changed, because the big whales have come in and changed the odds,” Pascrell said.
🌟 The LA-bred millionaire gelding Touchuponastar gets the biggest win of his career in the G2 New Orleans Classic at @fairgroundsnola!
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) March 22, 2025
Tim Thornton guided the 6YO gelding for trainer Jeff Delhomme.
🎥 TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/kUQHxz1o9y
The difference between fixed odds and pari-mutuel wagering quickly becomes clear to someone who bets on football regularly and then tries their hand at horse racing.
The pari-mutuel model involves making a bet and then watching odds fluctuate as more money is bet into the pool. A percentage of the pool is eventually removed (the "takeout") to help fund the sport and tracks putting on the races.
With fixed odds, when you place a bet on a team to win at -110, those are your odds. A similar cut is taken by the bookmaker in the form of vig, that extra ten cents you pay on a moneyline bet of -110.
In selling Louisiana lawmakers on fixed-odds wagering, Delhomme told the committee members about his family’s long history in the racing industry.
That history now includes Delhomme’s more recent success with the Louisiana-bred Touchuponastar, who won the New Orleans Classic Stakes in March.
Touchuponastar’s morning line odds for that race at Louisiana’s Fair Grounds were 6/1 (+600), and those odds held when he crossed the finish line first. In other words, if you bet $10 on Touchuponastar to win the race, and were expecting to win another $60 for that bet as the odds suggested, you would have gotten around just that.
Fake news!
But not everyone who bets on horse racing is so lucky. In fact, someone who wagered on Journalism at 8/5 to win the Preakness earlier this month wound up getting paid at even-money odds when the race was done.
H.B. 547 offers the opportunity for Louisiana sports betting customers to lock in their odds on a horse race, rather than see them blown about by what’s going on in the pari-mutuel pool. In that way, a wager on a horse in Louisiana someday might be similar to a wager on Jake Delhomme and the Carolina Panthers way back when.
The legislation would allow online sportsbooks in Louisiana to take fixed-odds wagers on horse races conducted in and out of the state (provided they obtain all the necessary approvals). A bettor could even parlay their horse bet with another bet on a different sport.
H.B. 547 would also channel 5% of the proceeds to a "Fixed Odds Horse Wagering Purse Supplement Fund" that would help fund race purses and breeding efforts in the state.
The push for fixed-odds wagering in Louisiana also comes as there is uncertainty about the future of the Churchill Downs Inc.-owned Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, which the company says is because of the loss of revenue from historical horse racing machines. The legality of those slot-like machines was overturned by a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling in March.
Whether the Louisiana legislature can manufacture a fix for the HHR situation remains to be seen. The same goes for whether it will pass H.B. 547, although the legislation got a fairly warm reception before the House Commerce Committee.
That warm reception was at least partly due to Delhomme’s presence.
“We're just trying to get our product – because we have an unbelievable product – on a national stage,” Delhomme said. “It's not an expansion of gaming, it's just joining in on what's going on throughout the United States, and to get our product to where we can generate more revenue to come back to the state."
