After several attempts over the past few years, Kentucky has finally passed a bill to legalize sports betting. Tennessee’s neighbor to the north became the first state to pass such a measure in 2023 and the 38th state overall.
Here are the details we know as of today and how Kentucky’s sports betting bill stacks up to Tennessee’s.
Kentucky Legalizes Sports Betting with HB 551
The attempts to legalize sports betting in Kentucky go back to 2017, and there have been different variations that were struck down over the years.
After cruising through the House, HB 551 faced more uncertainty in Kentucky’s Senate but ultimately passed by just two votes.
There are nine horse racing tracks spread across the Bluegrass State and Kentucky’s sports betting bill permits each track to partner with three mobile sportsbooks. This would allow for up to 27 sports betting apps in Kentucky at full maturity.
The horse racing tracks themselves will be able to integrate retail sports betting into their facilities where horse race wagering is already legal.
Although Kentucky has yet to set a specific date for its launch, the bill requires sports betting to be live within six months of when the legislation goes into effect on June 28. Kentucky’s legislators will surely want to capture as much of the 2023 NFL season as possible to gain momentum for its new industry but also to limit the amount of revenue lost to surrounding states.
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Comparing Kentucky and Tennessee Sports Betting
The biggest differences between Tennessee’s and Kentucky’s sports betting bills are the inclusion of retail sportsbooks and the number of potential online sportsbooks.
Tennessee has never had retail sportsbooks as part of its bill, and there doesn’t seem to be any indication the Volunteer State will expand to include in-person betting.
Kentucky’s sports betting bill has a larger potential number of mobile betting apps to be available as well, maxing out at 27. Tennessee has slowly increased the number of approved sportsbooks since its launch in November 2020. After starting with four sportsbooks, bettors in the Volunteer State can now place bets on 10 mobile apps. There are an additional three operators that have been awarded licenses but are not yet live, including Fanatics Sportsbook which was approved earlier this year.
Online sportsbooks will be taxed at a lower rate in Kentucky compared to Tennessee at 14.25% and 20%, respectively. Retail sportsbooks will see an even lower rate in Kentucky at 9.75%.
Kentucky is expecting to generate north of $20 million in yearly revenue from sports betting, while Tennessee has surpassed that estimate in each year it has been live.
