Kentucky House Republican Rep. Adam Koenig of Erlanger introduced four bills during House proceedings on the floor Monday afternoon that would legalize sports betting, among other things.
Koenig is a proponent of legalizing sports betting within the state of Kentucky. Six out of the seven bordering states have legalized sports betting: Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and now Ohio. Missouri is the only border state that hasn’t yet legalized it.
“We’re losing money, but more importantly, people are still doing it with bookies,” Koenig said. “Frankly they deserve the protections of their government to make sure that if they win, they get paid. If there’s a dispute, the arbiter now is the bookie or the offshore account. They deserve the protections of a neutral third party to figure out what should actually happen. I think those are important. I think the revenue is important. Let’s let adults make adult decisions with their time and entertainment dollars. Let’s give them the protections they deserve.”
Two years ago, Koenig sponsored House Bill 137, that would legalize sports betting within the state. The bill unanimously passed out of the House Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations Committee, which Koenig chairs. The bill passed during the second week of the 60-day legislative session. Forty-one of Koenig’s 99 colleagues supported the bill.
From there, opponents of expanding gaming laws filed numerous amendments to slow the bill’s progress down. The bill went back to committee two months later, effectively killing the legislation.
There was a sports betting bill filed during the 2021 30-day short session. Last year, the legislature focused on historical horse racing over sports betting.
Kentucky loses out on tax revenue from sports betting to bordering states such as Indiana. For example, in order for Northern Kentucky sports bettors to place a bet, they must drive to the Hollywood Casino in Lawrenceburg, Indiana and place bets at the Barstool Sportsbook.
If you’re a Kentucky sports bettor and want to place a bet on an online sportsbook such as DraftKings or FanDuel, you’ll be met with a popup stating you cannot place the bet because you aren’t within a permitted area.
The sports betting legislation will face opposition from religious conservatives representing rural areas. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear supported expanding gaming in the state during his 2019 gubernatorial campaign. The legislation could face opposition from detractors of Beshear.
“There’s a group of people who’re adamantly opposed to any form of gaming. That’s an issue. It’s also an election year. A lot of people worry about the politics of it,” Koenig said. “We have a poll that shows across parties and across the state that it’s wildly popular.”
