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Louisiana State Treasurer Announces that Abandoned Sports Wagering Accounts to be Reintroduced into the State’s Economy Sooner

Louisiana State Treasurer John M. Schroder announced on June 28, 2022, that funds in abandoned sports wagering accounts can now be reintroduced into the state’s economy. During the 2022 Legislative Session, Rep. John Illg sponsored the economic-friendly bill that became Act 510.

“We’re being proactive and thinking ahead about what’s best for Louisiana’s economy,” Schroder said. “Our Unclaimed Property Program already captures abandoned PayPal, Amazon, iTunes, and eBay account balances so it makes sense to add online gaming accounts, too.”

The new law requires that money left in sports wagering accounts that have been forgotten or are possibly unknown of after an account holder dies be transferred to the Louisiana Unclaimed Property Fund, where the Treasury’s Unclaimed Property Program will work to locate the rightful claimants. The new law allows funds to be transferred after three years of account dormancy, rather than five years under the previous protocol.

“The money can’t help stimulate Louisiana’s economy while it’s sitting gathering dust in an account somewhere,” said Schroder. “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.”

Schroder went on to say that the bill was written to give sports betting operators clear instructions on how to handle funds left in accounts with no activity. It takes effect on August 1, 2022. Sports betting funds are a new type of unclaimed property because sports betting was only legalized in Louisiana in January of this year.

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