By failing to legalize sports betting, Kentucky is a loser bordered by winners
By the end of this year’s NCAA basketball tournaments, the good people in the state of Illinois had wagered a combined $286 million on the men’s and women’s brackets.
Illinois sportsbooks made $14.3 million in adjusted gross receipts off those bets.
The state of Illinois made approximately $2.1 million in tax revenue.
Here’s what the “basketball state” of Kentucky made off wagers on the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments this year: Not one red cent.
Nor will our state see any revenue from such opportunities in 2023 and probably 2024. Not after the Kentucky legislature once again dropped the ball by failing to pass a bill legalizing sports gambling during its 2022 session, which ended Thursday.
Never mind that six of our neighboring states — Indiana, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Illinois — all have some form of legalized sports gambling. All six jumped on a revenue stream made available nearly four years ago when the Supreme Court of the United States struck down a 1992 federal law that effectively banned commercial sports betting in most states.
You’d think Kentucky would be one of those states. After all, we already have legalized sports betting in the form of horse racing, both Thoroughbred and standardbred. It’s part of the fabric of our commonwealth, long known as the horse capital of the world.
And it’s not as if racing is against expanding sports betting. On WKYT’s “Kentucky Newsmakers” program last Sunday, Keeneland CEO and president Shannon Arvin reiterated the industry’s support.
“Keeneland is very supportive of sports betting,” Arvin told Bill Bryant. “Any opportunity that we have to get more eyes on Thoroughbred racing and show people the special nature of the sport and majesticness of the horse itself, we want to take advantage of.
“And furthermore, we would be the 34th state to legalize sports betting, so it’s happening all around us. It seems a shame to let other states have the benefit of those tax dollars when Kentucky could certainly use them.”
A poll conducted by the Western Kentucky University Department of Political Science’s Political Behavior Lab found that 73 percent of Kentuckians support legalized sports betting in the state.
So what’s the holdup? While Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer has expressed his support for sports betting, Senate President Robert Stivers was opposed to the bill sponsored by Rep. Adam Koenig that would have legalized retail and online betting through racetracks and casinos. If passed, that bill was projected to generate $22.5 million annually for the state.
Unfortunately, Stivers is joined by legislators and religious organizations who continue to recite the tired arguments of the past — games could be fixed; gambling addiction, etc. — while denying people the right to spend their money as they wish.
Many of these same state senators and representatives continually preach individual freedom, by the way. Many have no problem supporting the state lottery or “historical racing” sites, including the Red Mile.
Thayer has said he believes the sports betting bill has a chance at passing next year. But the 2023 Kentucky legislative session lasts just 30 days. Even if sports betting was legalized, it would take a year or longer to set up the apparatus needed.
Meanwhile, Tennessee collected more than $5.9 million in tax receipts for online sports gambling last November. The state reported a record $386 million in sports wagering handle in January. With the nearby Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL playoffs, Indiana reported a record $500 million in sports wagering in January with $35.6 million in revenue.
Oh well, I guess Kentucky doesn’t need the money.
To be sure, Kentuckians are already betting on sports. Some are driving across state lines to make wagers in legal states. According to the Action Network, citing GeoComply, over 41,000 Kentucky addresses are tied to legal player accounts in other states. In March alone, there were over a half-million log-in attempts made by those accounts.
Remind me again what was going on in March? Oh yeah, Madness.
Here’s another form of madness: Another year (or more) of potential Kentucky sports gambling revenue being pocketed by our neighbors.
