Kentucky sports betting is a fairly new addition to the legal sports betting industry. It launched in the back half of 2023, and the Blue Grass State is already celebrating plenty of handle and revenue less than a year later.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, which oversees Kentucky sports betting, published financial numbers for January and February on Tuesday. In total, the state’s retail and online sportsbooks generated roughly $465 million in handle during the first two months of 2024.
More on the Kentucky sports betting numbers
January saw online sports bettors wager just over $246 million, while more than $11 million was bet at retail establishments. Those numbers dropped a bit in February, with online sportsbooks reporting just shy of $199 million in bets and retail operators pulling in just under $10 million.
In terms of tax revenue, January saw the state earn a total of roughly $5.3 million, with $5.1 million of that coming from the online sports betting market. February’s revenue total dipped to less than $3 million, with all but roughly $70,000 of that coming from online handle.
February was the first full month where Kentucky sports betting handle did not top $200 million. However, that was to be expected. Wagering activity tends to drop significantly between Super Bowl betting and the end of February across almost every state, and prior months had been lifted by NFL betting and college football betting.
Could March provide a bounce-back month?
It’s likely we’ll see an uptick in Kentucky sports betting handle when March numbers are released. College basketball tournament betting provides sparks in every legal sports betting state, and that should be especially true in Kentucky given its devotion to the game.
Its home team, the Kentucky Wildcats, did not advance past the first round. They fell to No. 14 seed Oakland in what turned out to be the final game on the Kentucky bench for John Calipari prior to his move to Arkansas. That could potentially ding the numbers just a bit, but we won’t know that until the KHRC goes public with them.
