New bill seeks to regulate online and retail sports betting in Kentucky

A Kentucky lawmaker has submitted another proposal for this year’s legislative session.

US.- Kentucky representative Michael Meredith has filed House Bill 551 in a bid to sports betting in the state. Legislation has failed in the four previous years.

The bill would allow retail and online betting on professional and college sports, international sports, e-sports, and video game events. The minimum age would be 18 and the market would be regulated by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission. The proposal would set initial licence fees at $500,000 for tracks and $50,000 for gaming providers.

Last month, representatives Derrick Graham, Cherlynn Stevenson and Rachel Roberts sponsored House Bill 106, which aims to allow online poker and sports betting in the state. However, HB 551 would not legalise online poker or fantasy sports, which Meredith believes will give it a better chance of becoming law.

Meredith said: “This is about regulating something we already have in the state. If you look, the estimates are that there’s about $1bn each year in Kentucky illegally and unregulated. This bill will bring that into our regulated space, and it will also allow us to take advantage of the revenue that’s being derived in all of our border states right now.

Last year, the Kentucky state senate’s legislative session ended with no vote on sports betting legislation. House Bill 606, sponsored by Rep. Adam Koenig, was approved in the 100-member House in a 58-30 vote in March, but the bill faced resistance in the Senate.

HB606 would have allowed Kentucky’s licensed horse tracks, including Churchill Downs and Keeneland, to partner with mobile sports betting operators. Licensees would have been allowed to offer in-person sports betting at horse tracks and two other track-owned facilities through sportsbooks licensed by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC).

See also: Two new Historical Horse Racing venues to open in Kentucky