Kentuckians Embrace Sports Betting with $250m in Bets
LISTEN TO THIS ARTICLE:The governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, has revealed on X, formerly known as Twitter, that almost $250 million has been bet in the state since legal sports betting was introduced.
In his message, he said that it took a lot of “hard work” to bring sports betting to the state and celebrated that money wagered by Kentuckians is now “staying in our commonwealth to make this a better place to call home for all our families.”
Retail sports betting went live in Kentucky on 7 September, and online sports betting became available on 28 September.
An Exciting New Market
While it was by no means easy to introduce sports betting to Kentucky, the state’s market has a great deal of potential.
Beshear signed House Bill 551 in April 2023, allowing on-site retail betting at nine racetracks, with each racetrack able to partner with a maximum of three online operators. As such, 27 potential licenses were created.
Numerous operators applied for licenses, including bet365, FanDuel, BetMGM, Caesars, Circa, DraftKings and Penn Sports Interactive, all of which were approved. Fanatics was also granted a license, and Kambi was awarded a retail license.
Kentucky taxes online operators 14.25% of gross gambling revenue and retail operators 9.75%. Racetracks must pay $500,000 for a license, and online operators need to pay an additional $50,000 to partner with a racetrack.
Excellent Choices for Punters
Sandy’s Racing and Gaming has partnered with BetMGM and bet365 online, and BetMGM also has a retail location at the track. Cumberland Run in Corbin has partnered with DraftKings for retail betting, while Caesars has joined with The Red Mile, and Ellis Park has partnered with Penn Sports Interactive.
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