Boutte Arrest Should Be a Concern for ESPN Bet, DraftKings, NFL, Others

The arrest of former LSU Tigers football standout Kayshon Boutte may not be a death knell for sportsbook league partnerships but it's sure to raise more eyebrows with state regulators while some companies could fear licensing restrictions.

Butte, who currently plays for the lowly New England Patriots, is accused of using an alias to illegally bet on sports while he was underage, Louisiana State Police said in a news release.

The news release says Boutte placed over 8,900 wagers, at least 17 of which were on NCAA football games and least 6 of which were on LSU football.

"In July 2023, LSU was made aware of allegations regarding a former student-athlete’s improper conduct related to sports gambling while enrolled at the University," LSU said in a statement. "Since then, we have fully cooperated with all relevant authorities involved in the investigation and will continue to do so. We have no evidence that any other student-athletes participated in these prohibited activities, and we are grateful for measures that detect and discourage sports gambling related misconduct."

The WAFB I-TEAM was first to report on the case Thursday, following a warrant being issued for his arrest.  Sources close to WAFB say that Boutte never bet against himself and that some of the alleged wagers took place while he played at LSU.

The NCAA has conducted a probe into numerous players accused of sports wagering since the summer, most notably two of Iowa's biggest programs, Iowa University and Iowa State.  The NFL, meanwhile, continues to forge relationships with sportsbooks.  Oddly enough, ESPN was among the last to report on the Boutte arrest.  The sports site now operates its own sportsbook, ESPN Bet (can you say conflict of interest?).

It wasn't immediately clear which sportsbook Boutte is accused of placing the bets with.  What is clear is that some of the bets were presumably placed at least over a year ago while still with LSU.  He was drafted by the Patriots in 2023.  With over 8,900 wagers placed, whatever sportsbook Boutte bet with didn't exactly catch this when they probably should have. That's a whole lot of bets.

Herein lies the problem.  Anyone who knows anything about the history of sports betting knows that the Lousiana State Police don't mess around.

It was in 2006 that SportingBet's non-executive Chairman Peter Dicks was taken into custody by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police during a routine customs check that revealed the Brit had an outstanding warrant out of Louisiana State.  Sportingbet at the time took bets from US residents, including those from Louisiana. 

That all changed following Dicks arrest.  Foreign companies accepting bets online from Americans soon understood the term "long arm of "the long arm of the (US) law".  Canadian and UK sportsbook owner, who up until this time felt immune from prosecution, stopped traveling to the United States as a result.

The Supreme Court would only legalize the activity more than a decade after Dicks' arrest, with Louisiana voters approving sports wagering in the state.  But those that operate there must abide by stringent regulations.

Whichever sportsbook, or sportsbooks, took bets from Boutte..... unless they are cooperating .....may be shaking in their boots right about now.

We here at Gambling911.com are not aware of which sportsbook that might be....but once can only imagine the fallout if say this were ESPN Bet, which itself is a reincarnation of Barstool Sportsbook.

As this was going to press, ESPN did post the headline to this major sports story....third headline down.  It did push down a story about one of its competitors in the daily fantasy sports sector firing an employee.

- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com