It was a wild ride for Kentucky sports bettors the final two months of 2023 as they gave thanks in November and got coal in December.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission released long-awaited sports betting revenue figures for the final two months of last year on Wednesday, showing slight month-over-month handle declines from October and operator revenue swinging up and down.
The two months of action saw a combined $546.6 million worth of action, with November’s $282.5 million handle the higher of the two. After being held to a sub-8% hold that month while winning $22.2 million, operators bounced back with a vengeance to close out 2023, posting a 12.4% win rate on $264.1 million worth of wagers to claim $32.7 million in gross revenue.
The KHRC did not provide figures for promotional credits and bonus bets by operators similar to the first two months, so it is unclear if the arms race to attract bettors continued on a large scale. The state received $7.6 million in taxes the final two months of the year, which was nearly the same amount coffers had from the first full month of betting in October. Overall, Kentucky generated $15.5 million in taxes in the three-plus months of action.