Sports betting in Kentucky to begin in September

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Kentuckians will be able to bet on sports in-person in September.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission met Monday to pass regulations for sports betting in the state. In-person sports betting at horse tracks around the state and other casino-like venues — like Derby City Gaming — will begin Sept. 7, and online sports betting will begin Sept. 28. The KHRC unanimously passed emergency regulations that allow for the licensing process to begin.

Permanent regulations will be finalized at a later date.

KHRC meets at Red Mile Gaming — Kentucky Horse Racing Commission met at Red Mile Gaming in Lexington on July 10, 2023.

"It's going to be a pretty seamless experience for those spending their entertainment dollars, but I do believe there will be changes over time because we want the very best system," Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday.

After winning approval in the state legislature earlier this year, sports betting will be available to Kentuckians in the fall.

The Republican-dominated legislature gave the state’s horse racing companies exclusive rights to operate in-person sportsbooks at their tracks and their casino-like historical gaming facilities, such as Derby City Gaming in Louisville. Online and app-based platforms like FanDuel and BetMGM can also operate in the state if they reach a revenue-sharing deal with one of the horse tracks.

House Bill 551, provides each of the state's nine tracks with up to three online partnerships. That means there are more licenses to dole out than online platforms seeking them, since each online provider needs only one license to operate across the state.

Starting Tuesday, horse racing tracks and gaming facilities in the state can apply for licenses after Gov. Andy Beshear signed the regulations.

"This is a historic day for our commonwealth – sports wagering will open for the first time in Kentucky in less than 60 days," Beshear said in a news release. "Bringing sports wagering to the state not only gives Kentuckians a much-anticipated new form of entertainment, but also brings money to the state to support pensions, freeing up money that can be used to build a better Kentucky through the funding of education, economic development, disaster recovery and other necessary projects, like providing cleaner water, building roads and high-speed internet."

State Rep. Al Gentry, D-Louisville, co-sponsored the bill that is making this possible. He said that lawmakers and the commission worked to get wagering in place to capitalize on the sport that brings the most betting dollars.

"It was very, very important to get this done by football season if we could do that," Gentry said. "Emergency regulations help us execute that."

Kentucky is the 37th state to legalize sports wagering, according to the American Gaming Association. And many of those states force online operators to give their local players — whether casinos, race tracks or sports stadiums — a cut of the action.

Kentucky is estimated to reap around 23 million dollars in yearly tax revenue from sports betting.

When Indiana launches sports gambling in 2019, $35.2 million was wagered in the first month of operation.

In Ohio, where sports betting went live in January, a record-setting $1.1 billion was wagered in its first month.

It's unclear how much could be wagered in Kentucky in September.

"This just adds to tourism," Gentry said. "There's going to be more exciting reasons to come in. We can watch live racing, make a wager on our favorite sports games and maybe enjoy a glass of Kentucky fine bourbon all in one sentence."

The commission is staffing up — adding 14 positions — and has been meeting with counterparts in states like Indiana, New Jersey and Ohio in preparation for sports wagering, KHRC chairman Jonathan Rabinowitz said during the commission’s June 20 meeting.

The legislation gives the racing commission until the end of 2023 to set up regulations and award licenses.

There are more than a dozen facilities in the state eligible to apply to be sports betting locations: