The regulator of legal sports betting in the Bluegrass State could approve wagering rules as early as next month.
So suggested the chairman of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission (KHRC), Jonathan Rabinowitz, on Tuesday at the outset of the agency’s meeting.
The chairman said initial drafts of the regulations for retail and online sports betting sites are ready and will soon be available for the public to review in the next few weeks. A special meeting of the regulator is tentatively planned for early July to approve the regulations.
“We will continue to provide updates on the progress as available,” Rabinowitz said Tuesday. “But needless to say, this is an exciting time for the commonwealth.”
Let us be clear
Rabinowitz also said that KHRC staff and commissioners spent the past two months consulting with other regulators, leagues, and the gaming industry as the commission worked on drafting "clear and concise" regulations for Kentucky sports betting.
“Many of these regulators have recently rolled out sports wagering in their states and provided tips learned from real-world experience,” Rabinowitz told his fellow commissioners. “Meetings with service providers and visits from multiple sportsbook sites provided a look at the extensive technologies employed to protect the integrity of wagering.”
Rabinowitz added the commission has contracted with Gaming Laboratories International LLC to provide consulting services and training and that the regulator is adding 14 staffers to help it with its sports betting-related duties.
Getting ready for some football
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear signed a sports-betting bill into law at the end of March. The law will go into effect on June 28, giving the KHRC six months from that point to lay the groundwork for event wagering in the state.
Beshear and other lawmakers have said they want legal sports betting up and running as soon as possible in Kentucky.
A launch in time for the start of the NFL’s regular season would be ideal, but the KHRC still has plenty of work. While several sportsbook operators also run racebooks, the KHRC still needs time to nail down the rules for a relatively large expansion of legal gaming in Kentucky.
The legislation passed earlier in the year allows for retail sportsbooks at the state’s horse-racing facilities and as many as 27 online bookmakers. Residents will have to be 18 or older to wager in Kentucky, the same as with wagering on horse racing.
