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Kentucky Sees Almost $250 Million in Sports Bets Industry

Kentucky Sees Almost $250 Million in Sports Bets Since Launch

By Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer Updated: 08 November 2023

Amelia Walker Senior Content Writer

Amelia Walker is a Senior Content Writer at Betting.US. She has a law degree and deep knowledge of the gambling laws in the United States. Her mission is to keep players informed about responsible gambling, while her passion for sports helps her create useful guides. Amelia has over a decade of experience in betting, which has positioned her as a trusted voice among our readers.

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Kentucky gaming officials have recently released impressive numbers in relation to the state’s sports betting market. The data shows that the state has seen close to $250 million in bets since legal betting started on September 7, 2023. Governor Andy Beshear shared the numbers recently, with the data suggesting there is a strong interest in sports betting across the state.

In the first 45 days of legal sports betting, sports fans in Kentucky enjoyed both in-person and online sports betting. Over $15.7 million was bet at physical locations across the state. When online and mobile betting started on September 28, it generated a huge amount of interest with more than $232.3 million in bets made in less than a month.

Success Underpinned by Football Season

The launch of sports betting in the state came amid the early weeks of the football season, so this will have undoubtedly had a positive impact on betting levels and figures. Many sports fans were eager to place bets on their favorite teams, which benefited both sports betting operators in the state as well as state finances.

Andy Beshear expressed his delight about the data, stating:

Kentucky is getting close to $250 million in bets. That’s a huge number and it shows how excited people are about sports betting starting here. It took a long time to make it happen, but now sports betting is real in Kentucky. This is great for people in Kentucky.

He added that sports fans got to enjoy some fun and that the money then stayed within the state to help make improvements in Kentucky.

Kentucky gaming officials and legislators decided to launch sports betting slowly and carefully, which was in line with a number of other states.

This enabled gaming regulators to make sure everything was in place and that the process ran as smoothly as possible. The legislation for sports betting, Bill 551, has set the tax for sports betting in person at 9.75 percent and for online betting at 14.25 percent.

Great News for State Finances

State officials believe that sports betting will bring in about $23 million in taxes every year once everything is up and running completely. This extra money will be used in a variety of ways, such as adding to the Kentucky pension fund and helping to provide funding for the Problem Gambling Assistance Fund.

Based on the numbers from the first few weeks of betting, it is estimated that Kentucky’s sports betting industry could bring in almost $3 billion in bets in the first year. This would mean the state would receive more tax income from sports betting than initially expected.

With Kentucky’s early sports betting industry showing signs of huge success, officials are optimistic about its future. Sports fans have embraced the ability to place bets within the state, and it has already brought in a lot of money for Kentucky. This is likely to continue as the football season continues and is closely followed by the Super Bowl and March Madness.