Andy Beshear Reveals Kentucky Sports Betting Feelings

Two years into the Kentucky sports betting era, Governor Andy Beshear has a message he wishes to convey about how things are going: Excellent.

“I think it's going really well in Kentucky,” Beshear recently said, via Drew Amman of NBC Lexington 18.

Financially speaking, this may be an understatement. According to recent data, the popularity of Kentucky sports betting just keeps rising. That is expected merely two years into legalization. At the same time, the rate of growth has far exceeded expectations.

This better-than-projected popularity can be attributed largely to the online element. Though sports betting in Kentucky featured a staggered rollout, it allowed mobile betting sites in the United States to operate basically from that jump. In today’s digital age, the accessibility of mobile sports betting is unparalleled.

“Since becoming legal two years ago, Kentuckians have wagered close to $5 billion dollars on sports betting, according to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission,” writes Mason Brighton of Spectrum News 1. “Nearly all of it is done on phone apps like DraftKings or FanDuel.”

To be honest, this might be yet another understatement. Per the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Commission, the most recent reports show a monthly handle of $193.1 million. Around $185.6 million of that was generated by Kentucky online sportsbooks. This amounts to over 96 percent of the entire market share.

While we do not yet have figures on online market share for the entire United States just yet, Kentucky’s will probably check in above the industry average. That makes you wonder whether its sports betting launch would have been as much of a financial success without the online element.

Granted, you can get to the answer pretty quickly. The answer is quite clearly no.

The Success of Sports Betting in Kentucky is Not Without Concerns

Of course, not everything can be looked at purely through a lens of dollars and cents. Among the biggest criticisms of legal sports betting in the United States is the impact it has on problem gambling. According to the Kentucky Council on Problem Gambling, calls to their hotline more than doubled last year compared to 2023, which was the maiden voyage for sports betting.

To be sure, this is not an issue specific to Kentucky. Every market that legalizes sports gambling will see an uptick in reports of problem betting and addiction. The most devout, if callous, supporters will attempt to argue this isn’t just a sign of sports gambling’s prevalence. It is also, in their eyes, a harbinger of expanded resources. By their logic, the more ways you have for people to self-report issues, the more problems you are bound to encounter.

This argument exists on flimsy footing. But the financial upside for sports betting in the USA is such that it’s not going anywhere. States rationalize legalization, in part, by noting that regulated markets protect consumers who would otherwise explore illegal means.

Beshear Addressed the Topic of Sports Gambling Addiction in Kentucky

Naturally, Beshear has been asked to comment on this. And in his response, he gave the type of answer you’d expect. As Amman writes:

As Kentucky approaches its two-year anniversary of sports wagering, the governor reflected on the implementation's impact. ‘What it showed us was that a [whole] lot of people were betting, let's call it, unlawfully before, but now have a system where it is regulated,’ Beshear said. The regulated system allows the state to track betting activity and respond when people develop problem gambling issues. I've actually talked to people, I've been at baseball games where someone says I've been locked out of the system in Kentucky, so there are those safeguards in place.’”

Anecdotal evidence is always shaky. Plus, even the most charitable interpretation of Beshear’s answer bisects with the problem.

The means to address problem gambling are almost entirely reactionary pretty much everywhere. Not enough is devoted to prevention—stopping problems before they happen.

This cuts to the heart of many peoples’ issues with gambling. They do not see a perfect way to combat its downside. They aren’t wrong, either.

However, there are downsides to every industry. You can’t get around all of them. In the case of sports betting, the most important thing is education. For example, plenty of time and resources are dedicated to teaching underage children how to use alcohol responsibly. Sports gambling needs to probably be viewed in the same light. And right now, it’s not.

Sport Gambling in Kentucky is on Pace to Set Another Record

Concerns in mind, Beshear is hardly wrong when he says that Kentucky sports betting is so far a rousing success.

At its current pace, The Bluegrass State sports betting handle in 2025 will top $3 billion. That would be a 19-plus percent increase compared to 2024. What’s more, it would bring the lifetime Kentucky sports betting handle to around $6.5 billion or more.

The state’s cut of this is enormous. Through the first half of 2025, Kentucky has collected over $75 million in additional tax revenue since the launch of sport gambling.

This number is only projected to climb in the coming years. Especially if, as many expected, The Bluegrass State explores raising its sports betting tax.

For now, Governor Beshear and other policymakers seem content with the current financial success. Looking specifically through that lens, it’s hard to blame them. Kentucky sports betting is having its intended impact on the state’s bottom line—and then some.

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