Kentucky, California, New York Highlight Recent Sports Betting News & Developments

Kentucky online sportsbooks went live recently, and they saw a lot of activity from local bettors. Elsewhere, California tribes aim to push an online sports betting initiative for the 2024 election cycle, and New York Sportsbooks generated a record $166.8 million in revenue for September 2024. Let’s examine all the recent sports betting news in the industry.

Kentucky Online Sportsbooks Launch With A Bang

Possibly the most significant sports betting news story in recent weeks has been the launch of the Kentucky sports betting. With retail betting launching on Sept. 7 and online sportsbooks going live on Sept. 28, the market has already seen an influx of local bettors embracing the practice.

In total, $72.5 million was wagered in the launch month for sports betting in Kentucky. This comes from $4.5 million in retail wagers and $68 million from the four days online sportsbooks have been live in Kentucky.

It won’t be until the end of October that fans can see how a full month of online sportsbooks being live will affect the market. With the amount wagered, however, it is likely that the October report will reveal much higher handle numbers.

California Tribes To Push Online Sports Betting

The California sports betting market has been in flux since failing to pass either of the two opposing sports betting initiatives during the 2022 election. While initially, local tribes opposed any online betting legislation, it appears things have changed. As reported by PlayUSA, the Pala Band of Mission Indians intends to file an online sports betting initiative.

The Pechanga Tribe is interested but also skeptical about the bill gaining much support from other tribes. Local tribes as a whole were adamantly against online betting in the Golden State. The Pala Band tribe would need the support of other bigger tribes if the initiative is to have a chance.

“This is a tribe that has a proclivity to go out on its own, and maybe that’s what’s happening again here,” said Mark Macarro, Pechanga Chairman. “Maybe this is just a case of one tribe wanting it so much when no one else really seems to want it. Certainly, voters didn’t want it last election. But I’m looking forward to seeing the language. Maybe they came up with something brilliant that no one else thought up.”

Pala Band was among native tribes that spent millions in 2022 opposing Prop 27, the online sports betting bill. Their push for online sports betting in 2024 shows an interesting change for tribes.

New York Record Revenue

The Empire State released its September revenue report for 2024. New York sportsbooks reported $166.8 million in adjusted gross revenue (AGR). This is the second-highest monthly revenue total in the post-PASPA era.

New York broke its own $163.6 million revenue record that was set in March and now sits behind Ohio, which raked in $209 million in revenue during its January 2023 debut month.

In September, New York saw just under $1.77 billion wagered at sportsbooks. This is the third most wagered in a single month, both in NY and nationally. The start of the NFL season saw sports betting activity spike 39.8% year over year compared to September 2022. Revenue is also up 15% year over year.

With the 51% tax rate, the state collected $94.6 million in taxes for September. In total, more than $600 million was collected in sports betting taxes in New York for 2023.