All About Kentucky Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

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.

As of November 2023, seven of Kentucky’s nine 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. Of those, all but Circa have officially started taking bets in Kentucky.

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 recently opened one at Sandy’s Racing and Gaming in Ashland.

Through the initial handle figures released by the administration of Gov. Andy Beshear, the state is following in 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, May vs. April

Kentucky Sports Betting Handle and Revenue: May 2024

Kentucky’s eight sports betting operators combined to accept $181,351,571 in wagers during May, a slight 3.2% drop from the $187,319,033 they took in for April. Operators had a couple of strong months as they recorded $21,164,005 in adjusted gaming revenues in May, down only 7.1% from the $22,784,643 they won in April.

Online wagering accounted for 96.8% of the handle, a total of $175,546,747, and 97% of the revenue, a total of $20,528,013. On a month-to-month basis, May’s online handle was down 3% from the $180,889,639 wagered in April through licensed Kentucky online operators. May’s online revenues were down 8.1% from the $22,327,185 Kentucky sports betting apps won in April.

The state taxes online and retail revenues at different rates, 14.25% and 9.75%, respectively. In all, Kentucky collected $2,985,052 in sports betting taxes for May, down 7.4% from the $3,223,744 generated in April. Mobile accounted for $2,925,242 in taxes for May, down 8.1% from the $3,181,624 reported in April.

DraftKings was the top operator by handle, taking $69,917,715 in wagers during May. FanDuel accepted $58,960,870, followed by bet365’s $15,605,837, BetMGM’s $12,552,622 and Caesars’ $7,851,605.

The top retail sportsbooks for May were Churchill Downs, which took $2,757,190 in bets, and Turfway Park, with a handle of $1,197,397. Both of those operators, owned by Churchill Downs Inc., partner with Kambi for their brick-and-mortar operations. Red Mile, which hosts a Caesars Sportsbook, accepted $978,506 in bets during the month. Oak Grove, another Churchill property with a Kambi sportsbook, took $471,840 in wagers, and DraftKings’ retail outlet at Cumberland Run reported a handle of $215,446.

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which released three months’ worth of figures at once, was the last state to report April figures (and March, too). Unlike almost every other sports betting state, Kentucky does not provide monthly financial reports on a routine basis. The Commission reported March through May figures on July 10. The last update had occurred on April 16.

The top 10 states for April in terms of handle were: New York $1.970 billion, Illinois $1.104B, New Jersey $1.044B, Ohio $674.161 million, Arizona $656.323M, North Carolina $648.934M, Pennsylvania $646.061M, Massachusetts $603.254M, Nevada $569.328M and Virginia $563.496M. North Carolina debuts in the No. 6 spot nationwide for its first full month of online sports betting; that market launched March 11.

Nationwide, Americans wagered $12.077 billion through licensed sportsbooks in April. Operators reported revenues totaling $1.043 billion for the month. May figures are all in except for Arizona.

These national figures do not include handle for Nebraska, which does not report the sports betting activity taking place at its casinos, nor does it include revenue from Tennessee, as regulators there no longer report those figures (providing only handle).

Kentucky Mobile Sports Betting History