Kentucky sports wagers tops $180 million in May

Sports Betting

The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission reported $181 million in sports betting revenue from March through May. Additionally, sportsbooks posted double-digit holds in the final two months of that window.

Together, seven retail and seven sports betting apps combined to generate $624.9 million in handle. Kentucky is just $17.3 million shy of $2 billion worth of wagers in the first nine months of legalized commercial betting. 

Sports betting operators had a better month in April besides the Kentucky Wildcats being in the NCAA tournament in March. However, Kentucky was upset in the first round 80-76 vs. Oakland. That gave them an 8.6% hold in March. In April, Kentucky posted a 12.6% win rate, and a 12.9% win rate in May. Kentucky collected $9.2 million in taxes, making their year-to-date total at $17.6 million. They had $3.2 million worth of receipts in April.

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.

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