When Kentucky on March 31 became the first state in 2023 to legalize sports betting, the clock started ticking. And less than two weeks later, politicians are already using sports betting as a political football and pointing to what could be unreasonable launch dates.
Gov. Andy Beshear, long a supporter of legal wagering, suggested last week that Kentuckians would be able to place bets by football season. Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer, who shepherded wagering through the legislature, also pointed to a fall launch.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Alan Keck, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that he wants to change where revenue is routed from the new law. Instead of most of the money being directed to the state’s ailing pension system, he would like to see it used for school security in the wake of widely publicized shootings.
While changing where the money flows is an issue that would be up to the legislature to revisit, it’s now the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission that is on the clock — and the timeline Beshear and Thayer are suggesting is aggressive, but not unprecedented. It would mean that the KHRC would have just over two months from the effective date of the new law to develop regulations, vet potential operators, and license facilities and operators.