Kansas Online Sports Betting

Well, there may not be any big four sports teams in Kansas, but soon they’ll definitely have something to cheer about as sports betting is on its way to The Sunflower State. Legal sports betting is expected to launch in Kansas in just the coming weeks, as the desired launch date is before the 2022 NFL regular season starts (September 8th).

While some states like to take their time with the launch of sports betting, Kansas has really tried to fast track it, and for good reason. With the Kansas City Chiefs possibly looking to relocate, Kansas legislatures are doing their best to try and entice the Chiefs as best they can to cross state lines (from Missouri to Kansas) and many feel that sports betting would be huge bait to lure them in.

Sports betting was initially written into law in May thanks to the passing and approval of SB 84. If you really want to get an idea as to how quickly they moved this along, the Bill was first brought to the Senate on March 30th, and was signed into law on May 23rd of the same year.

Since everything is moving so quickly, we don’t really have a full understanding as to what online sports betting will look like in Kansas. However, as the days go by, we get more and more ideas as to how things will play out, and let me tell you: Kansas residents are about to have some fun.

Legal Sports Betting in Kansas and SB 84

Technically, sports betting is already legal in the state of Kansas. Things officially went into effect on July 1st, 2022. However, due to the speed of everything, sports betting hasn’t officially launched in the state–all the operators are currently playing catch-up.

Sports betting plans to launch in Kansas before September 8th, which is the start of the 2022 NFL season. Of course the state would like things to get kicking then, because the NFL is the most widely bet on sport across the US.

Senate Bill 84, which is the legislation that made sports betting legal, imposes a 10% tax rate on all sports-betting revenue, and allocates a majority of the money raised (almosy 80%) to the “Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund.” No, I’m not kidding, that’s actually the name of it.

The remaining parts of the Bill are pretty normal: you must be 21+ to play, you have to be located in the state, and you’re only able to plat through the states four commercial casinos, which each have three skins.

A skin is just a fancy word for “different sportsbook.” So, FanDuel could be one skin, DraftKings could be the second, and Barstool Sportsbook could be the third.

The legislation also allows for sports betting to be done in person at as many as 50 other brick-and-mortar locations across the state, including any possible future sports facilities.

One of the early hangups with Kansas sports betting was over the inclusion of college sports. Obviously, with the University of Kansas and Kansas State, collegiate sports are huge in The Sunflower State. Many felt that sports betting would be a flop without collegiate sports, but some struggled to get over the moral dilemma that it may create.

Ultimately, collegiate sports were included in the legislation, and that’s how we got to where we are now.

Sportsbooks Available in Kansas

Each of Kansas’ four brick-and-mortar casinos will be able to partner with up to three online operators to make up the state’s 12 online licneses. Some of those partnerships have already been announced:

In addition to the online sportsbooks that are launching, FanDuel, DraftKings, PointsBet, and Barstool will each open up a brick-and-mortar sportsbook location inside each of their respective casino partners.

What Sports Can You Bet on In Kansas?

You can bet on pretty much anything you’d like to! Here are some of the most popular sports people bet on across the country:

• Baseball
• Basketball
• Football
• Hockey 
• Soccer
• MMA
• Boxing
• Formula One
• NASCAR
• Tennis
• Golf