LEXINGTON, Ky. — The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission voted Tuesday to officially allow several online sports betting platforms to enter the state. The list included well-known names such as DraftKings, FanDuel, Caesars and even the newly acquired Penn Sports Interactive, which ESPN recently bought.
"It's an exciting day. It is a long time coming," KHRC Chairman Jon Rabinowitz said to reporters after Tuesday's KHRC meeting at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
The first step to allowing online sports betting is approving an "operator license" and tying that to an already operating race track in Kentucky. The next step is approving a "service provider" license, which is with well-known nationwide gambling sites.
The KHRC officially approved 12 temporary operator licenses and eight temporary service provider licenses Tuesday. The 12 operator licenses include three locations that haven't been built yet and also include satellite locations for well-known tracks, like Derby City Gaming is for Churchill Downs.
The eight service provider licenses also include some companies that will help the racetracks with their brick-and-mortar locations.
"Caesars is an example of that. Caesars will be running the book at Red Mile and will have a mobile application," Rabinowitz said.
Kentucky lawmakers chose to break from the norm of a few other states and make both in-person retail gambling and online gambling open to people 18+ and not 21+ like in Ohio. Rabinowitz said Tuesday that many of the online service providers are actually going to stick with 21+.
"A lot of these service providers have indicated to us that it's gonna be 21 and up. Even though we have the 18 and up ability, it seems that most --if not all-- of them are going to head up that 21 and up route," Rabinowitz said.
For the online apps, the KHRC said eligible Kentucky residents can make an account on these various sites starting Aug. 28, they can load money into their account on Sept. 7, and then they can make their first online sports bet on Sept. 28.
The plan is still for the first in-person retail locations to be open on Sept. 7 across the state.
All licenses approved Tuesday were temporary but the KHRC said every one of the licenses can be transitioned to an "annual" license. It is standard KHRC protocol for all licenses to reset on Jan. 1 of every year. Executive Director Jamie Eads and Rabinowitz said they think much of the 2024 licenses will be figured out by Sept. 1.
“The countdown continues as we move closer to sports wagering with retail locations opening in just 16 days,” Gov. Andy Beshear said. “Thank you to the KHRC commissioners for their dedication to getting this done right and getting it done in time for the opening of the NFL season.”
Approved operator licenses:
- Churchill Downs, Louisville
- Derby City Gaming, Louisville
- Ellis Park, Henderson
- The Mint Gaming Hall Cumberland Run, Corbin
- The Mint Gaming Hall Cumberland, Williamsburg
- Newport Racing and Gaming, Newport
- Oak Grove Gaming and Racing, Oak Grove
- The Red Mile, Lexington
- Turfway Park, Florence
- Derby City Gaming, coming soon to downtown Louisville
- Ellis Park, coming soon to Owensboro
- Sandy’s Gaming and Racing, coming soon to Ashland
Approved service provider licenses:
- Bet365
- BetMGM
- Caesars
- Circa
- DraftKings
- Fanatics
- FanDuel
- Penn Sports Interactive
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