It's Official: Kentucky Passes Sports Betting Legislation

The Senate took discussions related to HB 551 right down to the wire. On the final day of the current legislative session, state Senators finally gave a big thumbs up to the sports betting legislation. By a vote of 25-12, the bill passed and was sent to the desk of Gov. Andy Beshear for his signature.

Wasting no time, the governor did sign the historic bill in a ceremony held at the state's capitol building. In the process, Kentucky became the 37th state to legalize sports betting for its residents. The state was also the first state to pass such legislation in 2023.

Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer Saves the Day

With only hours remaining in the current legislative session, it looked like HB 551 might be D.O.A. However, Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer stepped forward with one last push to get the bill through. That required a minimum of 23 Senate votes. He scrambled to get 25, bringing much-wanted sports betting access to the residents of the state

According to Thayer in a press release:

“For those of you that have studied political science, they tell you as a leader you have two options. You can be a steward or a ward of your district. Now, the steward pretty much tells you that this medicine is good for you … they tell the district what they’re going to do. And the ward tells the district what they believe, and if the district doesn’t agree with them the ward carries out what the majority of the district asks them to do.”

What's in the Bill

In each of the states that have passed some form of sports betting legislation, the "devil is always in the details." Here is a look at some of the key components that can be found in Kentucky's sports betting legislation"

Sports betting will be regulated by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission

• Retail and online Sports Betting licenses will be available for licensed Kentucky race tracks (9)
  
• Simulcating facilities can offer retail sports betting if they are aligned with a race track
  
• Each race track will be permitted to partner with three (3) online sports betting operators (max of 27 sports betting apps)
  
• License fees are set at $500K for the first year and $50K for every subsequent year
  
• License fees for service providers are set at $50K for the first year and $10K for every subsequent year
  
• Tax rates on sports betting revenue are set at 14.25% for online operations and 9.75 for retail operations
  
• Revenue will be split between the state's pension fund and a problem gambling fund
  

At this point, it is not clear when sports betting will go live in Kentucky. However, the powers to be will be pushing for retail and online launches to start by the end of the year. Given the speed at which operators can get betting operations in place, the end of the year looks like a viable target. It really depends on how fast the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission can get licenses issued.