Although Kentucky's horse racing purses will not directly benefit from recently legalized sports betting, the state's nine tracks on Monday were authorized to apply for retail sports book permits starting Tuesday, July 11. They could start taking bets on games as early as Sept. 7, the first day of the National Football League season.
Online sports wagering, which is expected to eventually account for 90% of an estimated $23 million in sports betting tax and licensing revenues for the state, will be rolled out Sept. 28.
Those dates were confirmed at Monday's Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC) meeting at The Red Mile in Lexington, at which the commission unanimously voted in both “emergency” and “ordinary” sports betting regulations.
The emergency regulations will allow the state's tracks to apply for sports betting permits and get up and running by the start of the lucrative football season, while the ordinary regulations will go through a public comment and revision process and will eventually replace the set of emergency rules.
By Kentucky law, sports gambling must be done through the state's licensed tracks, which are allowed to partner with up to three sportsbooks each. The brick-and-mortar permit can be applied to either a track's main location or a licensed satellite facility.
Unlike Kentucky's historical horse race gaming and simulcasting, which both by statute guarantee a revenue stream for horse racing purses, sports betting provides no such direct boost.
In lieu of getting a direct cut of booking sports wagers, Kentucky horsemen will be banking on the potential benefit from crossover opportunities that could convert sports bettors into horseplayers.
With a law signed Mar. 31, Kentucky becomes the 37th state to have legal sports betting.
Six of the seven states bordering Kentucky already take wagers on sports.
The law allows Kentucky tracks to be licensed as sports betting facilities for a $500,000 initial fee and an annual renewal of $50,000.
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