All About Kentucky Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

By Jim Tomlin

@jdtomlin68

December 9, 2025 05:15pm

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 follow 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, October vs. September

Kentucky became the latest state to set a sports betting handle record in October, according to figures that the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation submitted on Dec. 9.

Sportsbooks in the Bluegrass State accepted $340,026,378 in wagers during the 10th month of 2025, a 15.0% increase from September ($295,744,630). That handle figure set a state record, eclipsing the mark of $301,740,758 set in November 2024.

The mobile handle also broke the record in Kentucky at $329,580,318, clearing $300 million for the first time. The mobile standard also had stood since last November, at $290,702,678. In a month-over-month comparison, the handle was up 15.0% from $287,594,263 in September.

October has been a banner month for wagering nationwide; Kentucky is among 17 states to reset their handle record (plus Washington D.C.) with Illinois and Arizona yet to report October numbers.

Adjusted gross revenue (AGR) increased in October statewide, but not as dramatically as handle. AGR from all sports bets was $27,296,639, a 6.2% increase from September ($25,707,596). Mobile revenue rose 5.3%, from September’s $25,208,663 to October’s $26,543,883.

Total excise tax from sports betting was $3,820,548 in October, up 3.7% from $3,684,795 in the previous month. As usual, mobile operators accounted for almost all of that, with $3,756,747 in taxes from online wagers, a 3.5% bump from $3,629,968 in September.

The top handles by operator were by DraftKings (Cumberland Run) at $131,169,932, FanDuel (Turfway Park) with $114,543,584, bet365 (Sandy’s) at $25,906,793, BetMGM (Sandy’s) with $16,680,027 and Oak Grove (Fanatics) at $14,176,268.

Kentucky Mobile Sports Betting History