Legal Sports Betting Opens in Kentucky

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear wagered on two home-state college football squads. It marked the opening of legal sports betting in Kentucky. Also, the governor placed the wager at Churchill Downs. He fulfilled his promise of launching sports betting in time for the football season.

According to 9DollarPerHead pay per head sources, the Governor of Kentucky placed a wager on the University of Kentucky and University of Louisville football teams, hoping to gain favor with voters in an election year for the state. Finally, Beshear’s $20 parlay relied on Duke, a longtime basketball foe of both Kentucky and Louisville, winning fewer wins than predicted in football this season.

On Thursday, the Louisville Sports Commission will receive any proceeds from the ceremonial first sports bets made at the historic track.

Legal Sports Betting in Kentucky

On Thursday, other parts of the state began offering sports betting as part of the initial rollout. Damon Thayer, leader of the state Senate majority, pushed for the legalization of sports betting and even gambled on one of the games himself at a betting parlor in Lexington.

Smartphones will soon be able to be used to place bets online, a practice known as “mobile betting,” which will launch later this month. Some backers of the project estimate it will bring in even more money for the state each year than the estimated $23 million. The state pension fund in Kentucky will receive the bulk of the money. Furthermore, it will prevent the diversion of tax money from Kentucky, where wagers on sports were formerly put, to other states.

After years of political battle, sports betting is now legal. In the last hours of its regular March session, the Republican-controlled state legislature completed its work on a measure to legalize, regulate, and tax sports betting in the state. The bill was promptly passed into law by Beshear.

After years of failed attempts to legalize sports betting, some Kentuckians feared this moment would never come. However, opponents argue that Kentucky families would suffer since sports betting is an addictive kind of gambling. The government will set aside a tiny portion of the taxes collected from sports betting to use in the fight against compulsive gambling. Now people are still waiting for sports betting in Georgia.