All About Kentucky Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

By Editorial Staff

@BetKYdotcom

June 2, 2025 05:02pm

BetKentucky.com is your go-to destination for all things related to Kentucky sports betting, and as such, we’ve developed this guide to explain terms such as handle, revenue and tax collections.

Sports betting began in the Bluegrass State in September 2023. State officials chose a gradual launch, allowing brick-and-mortar sportsbooks to start first on Sept. 7, 2023. Online operators received the green light three weeks later.

Several Kentucky licensed racetracks have licenses to serve as sports wagering operators. That allows them to host sportsbooks at their racing venues and their historical horse racing satellite facilities. Those tracks may also partner with up to three online sports betting operators.

Currently, there are eight licensed online sports betting operators in the state; they often offer Kentucky betting promos. Bet365 and BetMGM have partnered with Sandy’s Racing and Gaming. Caesars Sportsbook is connected to The Red Mile. Circa Sports and DraftKings have partnerships with Cumberland Run. Fanatics is partnered with Oak Grove Racing and Gaming. FanDuel is licensed through Turfway Park, and ESPN BET (Penn Interactive) is connected with Ellis Park.

Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks have opened at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ellis Park in Henderson, Oak Grove and Turfway Park in Florence – all of which operate on the Kambi platform. Caesars has a retail book at The Red Mile in Lexington. DraftKings has sportsbooks at Cumberland Run in Corbin and The Mint Williamsburg, while BetMGM opened one at Sandy’s Racing and Gaming in Ashland.

Handle figures released by the state following the path of most other markets that have both online and retail options – that is, the licensed online Kentucky sports betting apps are the preferred choice by most sports bettors in the state.

Kentucky Sports Betting, April vs. March

With the college basketball season ending in April, Kentucky saw its monthly sports betting handle take an expected dip. According to figures from the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation, reported on June 2, the state’s bettors wagered $219,760,439 during the fourth month of the calendar year.

The April handle fell 25% from the $293,176,264 that was reported for March, one of the biggest months for Kentucky sports thanks to the men’s and women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. However, on a year-over-year basis, April’s tally was up 17% from the handle of $187,913,250 reported for April 2024.

Kentucky’s eight licensed online sports betting apps accepted for 97.6% of all money wagered for April. The $214,381,841 in mobile handle (or dollars bet) was down 24.8% from March’s mobile handle of $284,916,145.

While the handle fell on a month-to-month basis, April still ended up being a better month for the sportsbooks compared to March. The online apps and brick-and-mortar sportsbooks combined to report $23,711,149 in revenue for April, a 21.9% improvement from the $19,450,968 in revenue they generated in March.

Revenues from online apps totaled $23,186,399 in April, up 22.9% from the $18,866,115 reported in March.

As revenues rose, so, too, did Kentucky’s tax receipts. The commonwealth received $3,360,317 in sports betting taxes for April, up 22.6% from the March total of $2,740,108. The online operators generated $3,308,688 of the tax revenue, up 23.1% from the $2,687,402 they contributed the previous month.

Kentucky’s top sports betting apps by handle in April were: DraftKings ($80,859,472); FanDuel ($71,274,991); bet365 ($22,817,250), Fanatics ($12,146,590); and BetMGM ($11,005,804).

The top retail sportsbooks in the Bluegrass State were Churchill Downs ($1,905,945), Red Mile ($1,197,774), Turfway Park ($610,415), Kentucky Downs ($557,863) then Oak Grove ($398,626).

Kentucky Mobile Sports Betting History