Kentucky saw sports betting wagers surpass $2.39 billion in its first year of legal operations, with players favoring online platforms. The state's legal sports betting market, which launched retail betting on September 7, 2023, followed by online wagering three weeks later, generated $272 million in adjusted gross revenue (AGR), according to the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission.
Online betting dominated the market, accounting for $2.3 billion in total wagers, while retail betting drew $87.1 million. In terms of AGR, online sports betting generated $264.3 million, with retail sportsbooks contributing $7.8 million.
Kentucky collected $37.7 million in taxes from online sports wagering, and $756,517 from retail betting. The state's overall hold, or the percentage of wagers that sportsbooks retained after payouts, was 9.28%. Online betting recorded a hold of 11.5%, while retail betting posted an 8.91% hold.
FanDuel emerged as the leading operator in Kentucky's first year, reporting $105.9 million in revenue from $817 million in bets, achieving a 12.96% hold. Rival DraftKings followed with $100.9 million in revenue from a higher handle of $895 million, resulting in an 11.27% hold.
BetMGM also made a notable impact, posting $18.9 million in revenue from a $143.6 million handle, with a 13.16% hold. Bet365, ESPN Bet, and Caesars rounded out the list of top-performing online operators, with revenues of $13.5 million, $10.6 million, and $9 million, respectively.
In the retail betting space, Churchill Downs, in partnership with Kambi, led the market, generating $2.5 million in revenue from $35.1 million in wagers, with a 7.06% hold. Turfway Park, also partnered with Kambi, followed with $920,878 in revenue from $14.7 million, achieving a 6.25% hold.
In August 2024, Kentucky saw a total handle of $151.4 million, with $147 million in online wagers and $4.4 million in retail betting. However, adjusted gross revenue for the month dropped to $11.8 million, a 21.9% decline from July. The overall hold for August stood at 7.79%, with online at 7.82% and retail at 6.07%.
DraftKings led the market for August, reporting $4.9 million in revenue from a $56.7 million handle, followed by FanDuel with $3.8 million from $45.2 million in bets.
Comparing Kentucky’s first-year performance to other states with similar populations, the Bluegrass State's $272 million in revenue outpaced Louisiana’s $188.3 million and Oregon’s $2.9 million in their first years of legal sports betting. Kentucky's results also matched up closely with Colorado, which posted a handle of $2.34 billion in its first year.
