Kentucky tracks apply for sports-betting licenses; wagering would begin Sept. 7
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All of Kentucky’s racetracks with the exception of Keeneland have submitted applications to open on-site sports-betting locations starting on Sept. 7, government officials said on Thursday.
Churchill Downs, Ellis Park, Turfway Park, and The Red Mile were among the seven tracks to have submitted the license applications by Thursday. Keeneland has announced that it will forgo an on-site location and instead partner with The Red Mile, a harness track in downtown Lexington, on a retail sports-betting site.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has issued emergency regulations governing sports betting and is anticipating that retail sites will begin taking bets on Sept. 7, in advance of the NFL football season. The Kentucky legislature narrowly approved sports betting earlier this year in a bill that gave the state’s racetracks the exclusive right to operate bricks-and-mortar locations.
The commission plans to vote on the applications on Aug. 22, the commission said.
The legislation also gave Kentucky tracks the right to partner with mobile service providers, and seven of those providers have submitted applications in anticipation of an Sept. 28 launch date for mobile sports betting. The operators include Bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, Circa, DraftKings, FanDuel, and Penn Sports Interactive, the commission said.
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