Tag: Sports wagering

Sports wagering rules being decided this week

Regulations on sports wagering in Kansas are being put into place this week.

On Friday, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission is deciding on some of the regulatory rules concerning sports wagering.

The Kansas Lottery Commission on Wednesday passed some regulations on sports wagering.

The new regulations it passed included rules for market agreements, advertising, prohibited events, retail sports wagering rules and other topics.

Lottery Executive Director Stephen Durrell said at the Wednesday Lottery Commission meeting that they have been working on the rules for sports wagering for several months.

Before they go live with the wagering, they are entering into amendments of contracts authorizing sports wagering, he said. The state will approve individual platforms and the agreements that are entered into, he added.

Under the state laws governing sports wagering, in Kansas the state casinos may offer sports wagering. Some retail shops in Kansas also may offer sports wagering.

Durrell said a lot of casinos are using one entity to offer different forms of sports wagering. The KRGC will be doing background investigations on all platforms that are requested, Durrell said.

He said the state is closer to a final agreement with the casinos on sports wagering.

The Lottery Commission is working on platform contracts from the casinos that they intend to use, he said. Some of those contracts have been received by the state, while they were still waiting on others, he added.

Durrell said they did not know the specific launch date for sports wagering yet.

In response to a question from a Lottery commissioner, a Lottery official said there is a rule that passed that all sports wagers would have to be made physically within the boundaries of the state of Kansas.

The Lottery official said that geo-sensing could be used to determine where the bettor is located. Managers are required by regulations and through contracts with platform providers to make sure bettors are placing a bet through one of the interactive sports wagering platforms, he said.

If a bettor goes to Missouri or Florida, he would not be allowed to place a bet through the Kansas casino managers, according to the Lottery official.

In other reports Wednesday at the Lottery Commission meeting, the Hollywood Casino in Wyandotte County reported $13.25 million in gaming revenues for July. It was the best July ever for the casino gaming revenues, Lottery officials said.

It was also the best July ever for Boot Hill Casino in Dodge City, Kansas, and Kansas Crossing Casino in the Pittsburg, Kansas, area, officials said. Boot Hill was just short of $4.5 million for the month, while Kansas Crossing was $3.7 million. Kansas Star Casino near Mulvane, Kansas, reported just under $14.5 million for the month of July.

Lottery officials said that July had five Fridays, five Saturdays and five Sundays, resulting in higher than usual revenues.

Kansas governor signs law legalizing sports betting

by Noah Taborda, Kansas Reflector

Topeka — After years of waiting, Kansans will soon be able to legally wager on sporting events under a new law signed Thursday by Gov. Laura Kelly.

Senate Bill 84 allows for the four state-owned casinos to use digital or in-person avenues to engage in the business of sports betting. The casinos, established under the control of the Kansas Lottery, can create and operate sportsbooks or partner with up to three online betting operators each to launch mobile platforms.

Native American tribes can negotiate a new or updated gaming compact regarding sports wagering.

“Legalizing sports betting will bring more revenue to our state and grow our economy,” Gov. Kelly said. “This is another mechanism that casinos, restaurants, and other entertainment venues can now utilize to attract Kansans to their establishments.”

The long-sought law gained approval 73 to 49 in the House, and, in the waning hours of the veto session, the Senate followed suit 21 to 13.

The Kansas Lottery and the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission will share oversight of sports wagering. Betters on the casinos’ platforms will have to be physically located in Kansas to bet and must be 21 years or older.

There is some hope the system could be set up in time for the NFL and college football seasons, but its more likely to be place in January 2023.

Opponents of legalizing this form of gambling when the industry has contributed to 65,000 problem gamblers in Kansas. They argued the 10% state tax on sports gambling generating $1 million to $5 million in annual revenue was not enough financial incentive to legalize the activity and risk more trouble with this potential addiction.

The state-affiliated casinos stand to make $9 million to $45 million annually on sportsbooks.

“I was excited to pass sports wagering in Kansas, it’s something that Kansans are already doing, and it will bring additional tax revenue to our state to help with our needs,” said Sen. Rob Olson, an Olathe Republican and chairman of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. “My constituents have pushed for this legislation for years, and now, the next time we have a significant sporting event in our state, Kansans will be able to bet on their hometown team.”

Eighty percent of state revenue from legal gambling on sports will go into a Kansas Department of Commerce fund to be used to support the establishment of a professional sports facility in Kansas, to lure a team such as the Kansas City Chiefs across state lines.

Casinos can enter agreements with professional sports franchises and place kiosks at a team’s facility to allow fans to place bets. They can also partner with 50 businesses and entities, one-fifth of which must be nonprofit organizations.

“We have heard from our constituents for years about the need for a sports wagering program here in Kansas, both for the value it will bring to their lives and for the revenues it will generate for our state,” said Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau, a Wichita Democrat and ranking member of the Senate Federal and State Affairs Committee. “I’m proud to have contributed to this package that will do just that and revitalize my community by creating jobs in Wichita.”

Kansas Reflector stories, www.kansasreflector.com, may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
See more at https://kansasreflector.com/2022/05/12/kansas-governor-signs-law-legalizes-sports-betting/

Kansas Lottery preparing for sports wagering

The Kansas Lottery is getting ready for sports wagering to start in Kansas, according to Stephen Durrell, executive director.

A bill that passed the Kansas Legislature would allow casino managers to run sports wagering in Kansas, while putting the Kansas Lottery in charge of it. Betting on college and professional sports would become legal in Kansas under the law, and it would be allowed through the state-owned casinos.

The bill would take effect on July 1, and the lottery plans to implement it as quickly and efficiently as possible, according to Stephen Durrell, executive director of the Kansas Lottery. Durrell discussed the topic at a meeting Wednesday of the Kansas Lottery Commission. There are a number of different deadlines in the bill.

Durrell said individuals in Kansas who want to place sports bets would have to have some sort of account with either a state-owned casino, with a casino application or with the Kansas Lottery, but the details of that are not yet worked out.

According to Durrell, similar to the state-owned casinos in Kansas, the Kansas Lottery would act as the owner-operator of sports wagering, with the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission the regulator and the state casinos the day-to-day managers.

He said that casinos would do a good job of making sure that sports wagers are fair and regulated, and if players wins, the players would get the money they are entitled to.

The Kansas Lottery is meeting with casino managers to discuss rules and regulations, and also plans to meet with the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission to discuss any gray areas of whose responsibility it will be to implement various parts of sports wagering, Durrell said. The new law is not always clear on the various responsibilities.

Senate Bill 84, which passed the Kansas Legislature, had not yet been signed into law by the governor, but Durrell said the lottery is proceeding as if it will be.

Durrell said the Kansas Lottery will create a document, a contract which would cover aspects of sports wagering.

He said casinos would have the option of selecting sports online wagering vendors, with the state having the ultimate authority on using them. Online vendors would have to pass a background check from the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission before approval, he said.

In addition to online applications that casinos will be able to offer for sports wagering, there will be an option of making physical changes within the state casinos to offer sports wagering, he said. Any changes to the casino floors will need the approval of the Kansas Lottery, under the language of the Kansas Expanded Lottery Act, he said.

The Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Wyandotte County is one of the four state-owned casinos in Kansas.

Senate Bill 84 also included Sporting Kansas City and Kansas Speedway as two locations that can contract with managers to offer sports wagering, he said.

The bill states that any manager may enter into a marketing agreement with not more than 50 marketing entities, at least 20 percent of which are nonprofit fraternal or veterans’ organizations. Marketing agreements would have to be submitted to the Kansas Lottery for approval.

Senate Bill 84 also contained a provision that would pledge some of the sports wagering revenues toward attracting professional sports teams to Kansas.

The bill also allows wagering on historical horse races at racetrack facilities, regulated by the Kansas pari-mutuel racing laws.

A provision for “I-lottery” that had been in the bill originally was not part of the final version, according to Durrell. That means the Kansas Lottery will not be able to offer its instant games online.

More information on Senate Bill 84 is at http://www.kslegislature.org/li/b2021_22/measures/sb84/.