All About Kentucky Sports Betting Handle And Revenue

BetKentucky.com is your go-to destination for all things related to Kentucky sports betting, and as such, we’ve developed this guide to explain terms such as handle, revenue and tax collections.

Sports betting began in the Bluegrass State in September 2023. State officials chose a gradual launch, allowing brick-and-mortar sportsbooks to start first on Sept. 7, 2023. Online operators received the green light three weeks later.

Several Kentucky licensed racetracks have licenses to serve as sports wagering operators. That allows them to host sportsbooks at their racing venues and their historical horse racing satellite facilities. Those tracks may also partner with up to three online sports betting operators.

Currently, there are eight licensed online sports betting operators in the state; they often offer Kentucky betting promos. Bet365 and BetMGM have partnered with Sandy’s Racing and Gaming. Caesars Sportsbook is connected to The Red Mile. Circa Sports and DraftKings have partnerships with Cumberland Run. Fanatics is partnered with Oak Grove Racing and Gaming. FanDuel is licensed through Turfway Park, and ESPN BET (Penn Interactive) is connected with Ellis Park.

Brick-and-mortar sportsbooks have opened at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ellis Park in Henderson, Oak Grove and Turfway Park in Florence – all of which operate on the Kambi platform. Caesars has a retail book at The Red Mile in Lexington. DraftKings has sportsbooks at Cumberland Run in Corbin and The Mint Williamsburg, while BetMGM opened one at Sandy’s Racing and Gaming in Ashland.

Handle figures released by the state following the path of most other markets that have both online and retail options – that is, the licensed online Kentucky sports betting apps are the preferred choice by most sports bettors in the state.

Kentucky Sports Betting, January vs. December

The state of Kentucky sports betting is strong to start 2025. That’s according to data released by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation for the month of January.

Bettors wagered $277,120,574 for January. While that is down 5.4% compared to December’s $293,022,540, it’s up 12.8% from the $245,604,391 handle reported for January 2024.

Online wagering accounted for nearly 98% of the betting traffic, and the $270,994,797 bet through the eight approved Kentucky sports betting apps fell 5.1% from the $285,476,298 mobile handle from December.

It was a different story for revenue, though, as sportsbooks reported marked increases for January. The $32,975,042 in revenue for January was up 68.8% from the $19,553,128 they won in December. However, on a year-to-year basis, revenue dropped 6.8% from the $35,384,370 the operators reported for January 2024.

Kentucky received $4,683,071 in sports betting taxes for January, and that was 60.6% higher than the $2,916,545 the state generated in December. Compared to January 2024, the tax proceeds dropped 6.2% from the $4,992,513.

The top Kentucky sports betting apps, according to handle, in January were: FanDuel ($96,231,822), DraftKings ($94,970,392), bet365 ($26,657,925), Fanatics ($15,169,168) and Caesars ($14,023,437). 

Kentucky Mobile Sports Betting History