Kansas Sports Betting Likely to be Signed Into Law in the Next Coming Days

The road to legal Kansas sports betting has not been an easy one. However, that road could be ending any day now. Late last week, the Kansas state Senate passed SB 84 to legalize sports betting in the state.

Now, the sports betting bill has made its way to the desk of Kansas Governor Laura Kelly. All the bill needs is the governor’s signature in order to become the law of the land.

The Kansas state Senate had rejected state House changes to the bill last week. Then, the day after rejecting those changes, the state Senate approved the bill by a vote of 21 to 13. SB 84 did receive some minor revisions last Thursday however, after the two chambers met to discuss the bill in the morning that day. The bill then passed the state House by the late afternoon.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is expected to sign the bill into law as she has indicated her support for Kansas sports betting in the past. This means that, as long as the bill is signed, we could be seeing the launch of Kansas online sports betting as soon as next year. Not only will this be exciting news for residents in Kansas looking to engage in sports betting, but in neighboring states as well.

Kansas and Missouri had both been racing to legalize sports betting first, in a fierce competition. However, the current Missouri sports betting bill has run into some obstacles recently that has allowed Kansas to pull ahead with its bill. So, that means Kansas could start benefiting from sports betting revenue from eager Missouri sports bettors while their state continues to lag behind in the legalization process.

When the sports betting market in Kansas launches, there will be a few options offered to interested sports wagerers. A minimum of twelve mobile sports betting licenses will be offered. Three licenses will be offered to each of the four casinos in Kansas. There will also be an option for a fourth skin offered to them if a casino strikes a partnership with a Kansas professional sports team.

However, at this time, there is only one professional sports team available in the state. This team is the Sporting KC from Major League Soccer. 

In addition, these casinos are also able to partner with up to fifty commercial partners, with twenty percent of these partners having to be with veterans’ or fraternal organizations. These partners would be able to place retail betting kiosks.

Some obstacles on the road to legal Kansas sports betting have come from opposition within the state’s government to legalizing the practice. Some causes for this opposition came from aspects of the bill. These include:

The controversial aspects included the tax rate of 10% on sports betting revenue which some deemed as low. The eighty percent of taxes that would be set aside to try to bring at least one additional professional sports team to the state. And there was also a worry brought up about the potential increase of gambling addiction in the state if sports betting is legalized.

State Senator Renee Erickson questioned the potential benefits that Kansas residents would see from legalizing sports betting. This includes questioning how building a new sports arena will be funded and will benefit the state.

Some of the concerns that have been raised will have to be dealt with as potential issues arise during the implementation of the bill.

Written by Allie Nelson, our US Sports Betting Industry Expert.