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Kansas Betting After One Year – A Look at the Numbers
After a long journey to gain approval from state legislators, Kansas sports betting has already been in operation for one year, with some of the country’s biggest online sportsbooks and retail bookmakers offering real money wagering on college and professional sports. Online betting officially launched on September 1, 2022, giving Kansas sports fans access to some of the top mobile betting apps in the market.
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The Kansas Lottery reports that the total sports betting handle in August was up 18.4% from July, at $94.4 million. Online sports betting in Kansas has been very successful since launching at the start of the 2022 NFL season. While revenue has fluctuated each month, sports bettors also got a lot of action at the four Kansas retail sportsbooks over the past 12 months.
Year 1 of Sports Betting in Kansas
Twelve online sportsbooks launched online in Kansas after partnering with one of the four retail casinos within the state. “Sports betting in Kansas exceeded our (revenue) projections for Fiscal Year 2023, something we are very proud of,” said Kansas Lottery public information officer Cory Thorne. Ninety-six percent of all sports wagers in the state were placed online in the first 12 months of operation.
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A Look at the Betting Figures
Online betting handle was up 16.9% from July’s $77.5 million to $90.6 million in August. Retail sportsbooks saw their handle increase 72.7% in August to $3.8 million as more people made their way to land-based sportsbooks.
August’s numbers mark the first 12 months of legalized sports betting in Kansas, with the total handle from retail and online sports betting topping $1.85 billion. Sportsbooks had a 9% hold in the first year, generating $166.4 million in revenue. This helped the state collect almost $7 million in sports betting tax revenue.
Online sports betting market leader DraftKings Sportsbook took 43% of all online sports bets in the US in the past year, with over $753 million in handle. It also claimed 42% of all online sports betting revenue in Kansas since last September, with $67.7 million.
FanDuel was second with $56 million in Kansas sports betting revenue over the past year, handling over $538 million in wagers.
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What’s Ahead for Sports Betting in Kansas?
Two Kansas online sportsbooks are currently rebranding after being acquired since sports betting was launched in the state. Australian online bookmaker PointsBet Sportsbook was taken over by Fanatics, and Barstool Sportsbook recently agreed to be bought out by PENN Entertainment and will be rebranded as ESPN Bet.
Fanatics Sportsbook will have a bigger challenge in the state as PointsBet had only 1.2% of the total online betting handle over the last year. However, it spent the least on promotions among all Kansas online sportsbooks, with $1.2 million. The new ESPN Bet Sportsbook will be one bookmaker to watch as it looks to gain a significant market share once it launches in Kansas and across the country this fall.
