Kentucky Sports Betting: Better Than Ohio?

• Sen. Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer and members of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission attended an Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue to discuss sports betting
• Thayer and Jamie Eads, Executive Director of the KHRC, assured the committee that it would not need “100 employees” to regulate sports betting
• Thayer declared Kentucky will “do things better” than Ohio

In a brief appearance before a committee on appropriations and revenue, Sen. Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer and representatives of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission assured legislators that it will not need to hire “up to 100 employees” to ensure Kentucky sports betting runs smoothly.

They also assured the Interim Joint Committee on Appropriations and Revenue committee members that they would be able to stay out of any sports betting controversy, unlike their neighbors to the north in Ohio.

Kentucky Sports Betting Better Than Ohio?

Sen. Chris McDaniel (R-23), chair of the joint committee, shared concerns with Thayer and Jamie Eads, Executive Director of the KHRC, about recent sports betting controversies in neighboring Ohio. McDaniel looked for assurances that instances such as an individual trying to bet $100,000 on the University of Alabama at the BetMGM sportsbook at the Cincinnati Reds stadium would not happen in Kentucky.

The individual allegedly received inside information on the University of Alabama before trying to place the wager. The incident led to the firing of the head coach at the University of Alabama’s baseball program and two staff members being fired at the University of Cincinnati.

Thayer assured McDaniel that Kentucky will be better regulated and monitored than Ohio.

“We’re going to do things better than Ohio. We usually do,” Thayer told the committee.

Kentucky will regulate and run sports betting through the KHRC, which recently received assurances it will be able to hire 14 employees to handle sports betting. McDaniel asked if the rumors were true that the KHRC would need to hire “up to 100 employees” to regulate sports betting.

Eads assured him that was not the case. After the initial 14 employees are hired, the executive director said an additional 10 employees are built into the commission’s “growth plan” to be hired in the future, not “up to 100.”

Kentucky Speaking With Sports Betting Operators

Eads revealed to the committee that the KHRC has been speaking with several sports betting operators to get sports betting off the ground in the commonwealth. Retail sports betting is scheduled to begin on Thursday, Sept. 7, with online sports betting following on Thursday, Sept. 28.

The KHRC has spoken with FanDuel Kentucky, Circa Sports, DraftKings Kentucky, WynnBET, and BetMGM Kentucky on best practices to launch sports betting in the commonwealth.

FanDuel Kentucky already has an existing relationship with Churchill Downs to offer sports betting in the state. DraftKings Kentucky is assuredly a lock to operate in Kentucky, and it’s likely that Circa Sports, Wynn, and BetMGM are all interested in developing sports betting partnerships in the commonwealth if they’re already speaking with the KHRC.