Kentucky Governor Beshear Sees Sports Betting Launching by September

Residents in Kentucky have every reason to be excited by the recent passing of sports betting legislation. It was more than two years in the making and long overdue as surrounding states like Indiana, Ohio, and Tennessee have been grabbing sports betting tax revenue from visiting Kentucky sports bettors for a while now.

With the bill (HB 551) already inked by Governor Andy Beshear, it becomes a waiting game until all the pieces are in place for a formal sports betting launch. As reported by Fox 56, Beshear stated in a news conference that he intends to push for a launch that will come sooner rather than later. He told reporters:

“The people are really excited about this, so we want to get it up and going as quickly as we can but also to do it right.”

For the benefit of Kentucky residents who missed the news, here are some of the details related to HB 551, which passed the Senate by a vote of 25-12:

• The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) will oversee the regulatory function
  
• Kentucky’s horse racing tracks will be permitted to offer retail and mobile sports betting
  
• Intitial license fee is set at $500K with a $50K annual renewal fee
  
• Mobile operators will pay an initial license fee of $50K and $10K annually thereafter
  
• The applicable tax rate on sports betting revenue will be 14.25 n mobile operations and 9.75% on retail operations
  

Governor Candidate Weighs in Ahead of 2023 Election

Heading into the 2023 gubernatorial election, Gov. Beshear would see a possible 2023 sports betting launch as a big win for Democrats. In fact, he intends to do everything in his power to get Kentucky residents to the sports betting windows by the start of the NFL season, which starts in September.

While Beshear's popularity seems evident, he will face plenty of opposition from the GOP in November. Among the Republicans who are looking to oppose the Governor is candidate Alan Keck. Keck is currently serving as the Mayor of Somerset.

By all indications, he also supports the launch of sports betting by the end of the year if not sooner. However, he has a proposal he would like to add to the legislation if selected as Kentucky's next governor. He plans on requesting that a good portion of the tax money collected from sports betting revenue be directed to schools to enhance school safety.

School safety is certainly a hot issue on the heels of the recent tragic shooting of three kids and three adults last month in Tennessee.

While an end-of-year launch seems most likely, it is possible that sports betting operations could be in place by the start of college football and the NFL regular season. It would require that the state's attorney general enact the legislation, something they could do at any time. From that point, the bill would officially become law after 90 days.

Could sports betting operators be licensed and ready to go in short order? It's been successfully managed in other states so why not the state of Kentucky?