The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s Sports Wagering Advisory Council (SWAC) released what could be considered a limited but diverse bet menu on Thursday in advance of retail sports betting going live on Sept. 7. That’s when the NFL season starts, with the Detroit Lions playing at the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
Noticeably absent from Kentucky’s menu of permitted wagers is pickleball, which has recently been added in 11 states, as well as NCAA volleyball. Betting on slap fighting, which has met resistance by other state regulators, is also not allowed.
Bettors in Kentucky will be able to bet on every major U.S. professional league, European professional soccer, and the the LIV Golf Tour, as well as some non-mainstream events, including cornhole, netball, UFC, and the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
SWAC member Jonathan Blue said he thought that pickleball was the “fastest-growing sport in the world right now” and questioned why it wasn’t on the menu. Director of Sports Wagering Hans Stokke then floated the notion that the menu will grow.
“Once we’re more familiar with the governing bodies that the pickleball tour are subject to and as long as we can vet those, it could be something we’d consider in the future,” Stokke said. “It is something we’d like to see in the catalog going forward.”
He offered a similar answer to council member Joyce Merritt, who asked why only FIVB-sanctioned volleyball events were on the menu.
“Those (NCAA, beach volleyball) are a couple more things that we will consider, even possibly in time for our mobile launch,” Stokke said. “There were some that were left off of there that we didn’t feel we had adequate time or research to add to our initial offering, but would be happy to consider even in time for that Sept. 28 launch.”
With regard to MMA being limited to UFC events only, Commissioner Bill May said he didn’t want to see any sports in the catalog in which the goal was simply “to maim” someone. Stokke said events that were not judged or scored were not included because “we don’t want anything in this catalog that is the result of mayhem.”
About 35 sports on the menu
Regulators said during Thursday’s meeting that wagering on non-sports awards, injuries, penalties, anything that is the “outcome of a replay review,” or wagers based on disciplinary actions aren’t and won’t be available to wager on in the future.
The KHRC is allowing wagering on about 35 different sports, in addition to Major League Eating contests and esports. According to a KHRC press release, the types of wagers permitted are single-game bets, teaser bets, parlays, over/under bets, moneyline bets, pools, in-game wagering, in-play bets, proposition bets, and straight bets.
Today, Gov. Andy Beshear announced the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission’s (KHRC) Sports Wagering Advisory Council released a Wagering Catalog, which includes a list of sports available for wagering in Kentucky.
Read more: https://t.co/NuMoX9LHSV pic.twitter.com/iHNgU4plJ7
— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) August 31, 2023
The catalog is three pages long, and in some cases doesn’t have as high a level of specificity as other states. In Colorado, for example, more than 600 potential wagers on 60 Olympic sports are publicly spelled out. Conversely, the Kentucky entries simply read, “Olympics (including trials)” for both the Summer and Winter Games.
Nebraska rolled out a menu similar to Kentucky’s in May before it launched retail betting, though that menu is even more narrow. With the exception of the Canadian Football League, everything on Nebraska’s menu is tied to a governing body in the U.S.
In Kentucky, Stokke was clear that more sports will be added in the future, but that his team needs additional time to properly qualify each governing body.
Digital platforms open for registration
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed wagering into law March 31, and the regulator immediately began work on rules and applications with an eye toward a football-season launch. Bettors in Kentucky will be able to place wagers just over five months after the law was passed and about three months after it became effective. The law mandated that betting be live by Dec. 28.
Under the new law, each of the state’s nine horse racetracks are eligible for one on-site sportsbook, as well as retail sportsbooks at satellite locations and three digital partners, or skins. The KHRC earlier this month approved seven locations, including Churchill Downs, for brick-and-mortar wagering licenses.
Monday was the first day that digital platforms in Kentucky could open for pre-registration ahead of the Sept. 28 launch. Seven mobile operators have been approved to go live as early as Sept. 28, and several, including bet365, DraftKings, and FanDuel, are already offering sign-up bonuses.
Bet365 is prepping to launch in its sixth U.S. state and is offering multiple sign-up offers, including $10 per touchdown in the Detroit Lions at Green Bay Packers game on Sept. 28 for those who pre-register.
