Sports betting is alive in Kentucky’s statehouse after a legislator filed a bill on the final day for House bills to be introduced during the 2023 legislative session.
Rep. Michael Meredith (R-Oakland) filed the bill, which he said is different from last year’s legislation.
The new bill removes online poker and online fantasy sports from past legislation, and instead it focuses solely on sports wagering.
“Over the last two or three months, we have developed a little further, working with the industry, working with the tracks, working with the horse racing commission to make sure the regulation is done correctly,” Meredith said.
Last year, House Bill 606 died in the Kentucky Senate despite last-minute maneuvering from former NKY Rep. Adam Koenig (R-Erlanger) — Koenig lost to current Rep. Steve Doan (R-Erlanger) in the Republican primary last May.
The bill was given some last-minute life before the veto period, but it faced its first hurdle in the Senate Licensing and Occupations (L&O) Committee after the period.
Chaired by Sen. John Schickel (R-Union), the L&O committee was where the bill was first assigned. It seemed unlikely that Schickel was going to support the bill. However, he has been a staunch supporter of the racing industry in Northern Kentucky.
Schickel declined to comment at the time.
Asked whether he would consider the bill in 2023, Schickel said, “don’t know.”
After the bill seemed unlikely to pass in the L&O committee, it was moved to the Senate Economic Development Committee. Another northern Kentuckian and former legislator, Sen. Wil Schroder (R-Wilder), also chaired this committee.
But, the makeup of the Senate has changed, and Meredith believes they might have some additional support, though he wouldn’t comment on potential votes.
“I feel like with just sports wagering, we were able to pick up some votes in the Senate,” Meredith said.
The new bill also clarifies the Horse Racing Commission’s Regulatory Authority and Structure, allowing the tracks to be the main licensees but also allowing them to contract with three sports wagering companies instead of it being just one like in previous bills.
Tax rates will also be the same — 9.75% on in-person bets and 14.25% on mobile and online bets, which were included in last year’s House Bill 606.
The way the new bill is written, for the first 12 months, users will need to register their account at a track, but then users will be able to wage their bets remotely.
“I think this is not just an expansion of gambling. This is about regulating something we already have in the state,” Meredith said, elaborating that there are estimates of more than $1 billion illegally waged in the Commonwealth each year.
“This bill will bring that into a regulated space,” Meredith said.
Meredith noted it will allow Kentucky to take advantage of the revenue flowing into Kentucky’s border states, including Ohio.
In January, Ohio legalized sports betting and GeoComply — the company that provides geolocation checks for mobile sports betting companies, ensuring users are actually in the state they’re gambling — and the Buckeye state shot into the top five states.
The company recorded over 100 million geolocation checks on Super Bowl weekend — Ohio received 12.6 million, placing second to New York’s 13.9 million.
Meredith said he hoped to file the bill a couple of weeks ago, but it went down to the wire.
“We got the final draft yesterday with everybody’s comments and concerns, we had a couple of little technical issues that we had to fix, and it went through statute revision last night,” Meredith said.