Sports fans in Kansas will be able to begin betting on their favorite teams, starting Sept. 1, Govt. Laura Kelly’s office announced Thursday, a move that will get the industry up and running before the football season.
Sportsbooks at Kansas’ four state-owned casinos will begin accepting bets at noon on Sept. 1 with a “soft launch,” either in-person or, more likely, via mobile apps via a contract with third-party vendors.
The sportsbooks will fully open a week later on Sept. 8, the same day the Los Angeles Rams face off against the Buffalo Bills to kick off the National Football League season.
“Legalizing sports betting is a common-sense solution that keeps Kansans’ money in Kansas and drives business to sporting events, casinos, restaurants, and other entertainment venues,” Kelly said in a statement. “I want to thank all our partners for working with us to get this done in time for football season.”
More:Want to bet on sports in Kansas? If lawmakers have their way, you’ll be able to soon.
The announcement came after the Kansas Lottery and the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission approved temporary rules and regulations to operate sports betting, with those guidelines currently under review by Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office and require his approval to move forward.
But John Milburn, a spokesperson for Schmidt, said the office “has identified significant legal issues with the agency’s proposed regulations,” although he did not specify what those issues might entail.
“Within days, we will be providing our formal feedback to Lottery and giving them the opportunity to correct the legal deficiencies,” Milburn said in an email. “We intend to approve these regulations as soon as the agency fixes the legal problems in their initial version.”
Milburn said the attorney general’s office is “aware of the urgency in this matter” and was almost complete with the review of the Lottery regulations and had started reviewing the KRGC regulations.
In an email, Brianna Johnson, a spokesperson for Kelly, said, “We don’t anticipate any issues with the launch date of September 1st.”
Cory Thone, a spokesperson for the Kansas Lottery, said the matter was part of the “ordinary course of business with the Lottery and The Attorney General’s office” and the agency is “confident that any issues the Attorney General has potentially identified will be worked out very quickly.”
Kelly signed in May the sports betting bill, a breakthrough on the part of legislators after years of deadlock over how much of a cut the state should get from all revenue, among other disputes.
More:Sports betting clears big hurdle. Effort to lure the Kansas City Chiefs almost backfires.
Where can you place a sports bet in Kansas? How much does the state get?
Under the law, casinos can partner with online betting platforms, as well as up to 50 retailers, such as a restaurant or gas station, to offer in-person betting. The Kansas Speedway, Sporting Kansas City and the state’s federally recognized tribes could also offer betting.
The state has assessed a 10% tax on all bets, regardless of whether they are placed online or in person. The first $750,000 will go to the state’s White Collar Crime Fund, with further proceeds going to a new fund designed to attract a professional sports team to Kansas, as well as combat gambling addiction.
Thursday’s announcement applies to the Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, the Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City, Kansas Crossing Casino in Pittsburg and the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane.
Negotiations with the state’s tribal casinos remain underway, Kelly’s office said in a news release, with further developments to be announced.
While sports betting legalization is only expected to bring in a few million dollars a year to the state’s coffers, it will likely attract bettors across the border in the Kansas City area after Missouri failed to pass its version of a sports betting bill in 2022.
More:With sports betting coming to Kansas, many worry about gambling addiction
Casinos partnering with mobile apps
Operators will be granted a one-year, provisional license based on their work in other states, a move designed to streamline the early days of betting, as well as an acknowledgment that the sportsbooks coming to Kansas are large national firms.
Some of those deals have already been inked, although each casino has elected to partner with different firms.
Hollywood Casino, for instance, has inked a deal with Barstool. Kansas Star Casino, meanwhile, has partnered with BetMGM and FanDuel.
Under statute, each of the state’s four casinos can partner with as many as three mobile apps where consumers can place bets, meaning there can be as many as 12 firms operating in the state.
Andrew Bahl is a senior statehouse reporter for the Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 443-979-6100.