Kentucky has collected more tax revenue than expected from sports betting in the weeks since ball game betting became legal in the Bluegrass State, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday.
The governor said during his weekly news conference at the state Capitol in Frankfort that initial numbers show the state brought in nearly $8 million in tax revenue in the first two months.
He said this early performance puts Kentucky on pace to easily surpass revenue projections floated earlier this year when the sports betting bill was being debated by lawmakers.
“This is an incredible start, and if this trend continues, we will significantly exceed our projected $23 million (annual) revenue from sports betting,” he said. “These taxes will support oversight of sports gambling, establish a problem gambling fund, and primarily support our pension system here in Kentucky.”
Some prominent proponents of legalizing sports betting predicted higher returns.
Starting sports betting The game was held in Kentucky amid much fanfare in early September during the NFL regular season. The Democratic governor made his first sports bet at Louisville’s Churchill Downs, home of the Kentucky Derby. At a gambling establishment in Lexington, state Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, a Republican who helped push the sports betting bill, placed a bet himself during its launch.
Sports betting facilities opened in the first phase of the state’s rollout. Mobile betting began in late September, allowing Kentuckians to place sports bets on their smartphones.
The governor said Thursday that more than $656 million has been bet so far. The breakdown includes approximately $26.8 million in in-person wagers at state-licensed sportsbook retailers and approximately $629.5 million in wagers made through mobile devices. He said an average of $65.2 million is wagered each week.
Beshear and other supporters said the launch stops Kentuckians from siphoning revenue to other states where they previously placed sports bets.
“Remember, before we legalized sports betting, this money was going to other states and gambling was happening illegally,” the governor said Thursday.
Sports betting is now a reality in Kentucky after a long political battle.Republican-majority states Congress finished work on the bill Legalize, regulate and tax sports betting in late March, the final hours of the annual session. Mr. Beshear quickly signed the bill into law.
For some Kentuckians, the start of sports betting was a milestone they thought might never happen after a proposal to legalize sports betting died years ago.
However, critics of sports betting consider it an addictive form of gambling that harms Kentucky families.
David Walls, executive director of the Family Foundation, denounced it as an “expansion of predatory gambling” and called it “a loss for Kentuckians, especially children and vulnerable populations.”
A small percentage of sports betting tax revenue would flow into a fund to combat problem gambling. Most of the revenue will flow into Kentucky’s public pension system.