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Live Blog: Kansas Goes Live With Regulated Sports Wagering

Hepisoping
September 14, 2022
9 min read

Kansas officially became the 32nd state to offer some form of sports betting in the United States with Thursday’s launch at noon CT.

The second-fastest state behind Iowa to go from legal to live since PASPA was overturned in 2018, Kansas is the third state in 2022 to launch mobile wagering, following New York (Jan. 8) and Louisiana (Jan. 28). A total of 35 states have legalized sports betting since 2018, but Ohio, Maine, and Massachusetts have yet to go live.

A dozen legal sportsbooks have been approved to operate in Kansas. Six platforms —  Barstool Sportsbook, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, FanDuel, and PointsBet — are expected to go live Thursday. Barstool Sportsbook and FanDuel will also open retail casinos.

Kansas lawmakers needed nearly five years to finally come to an agreement on what wagering would look like in the Sunflower State, and one legislative champion, Rep. Stephanie Clayton, shared a tweet Thursday that probably best sums up the feeling in the state:

Keep up with all the news here, as we’ll be updating this blog throughout the day.

Sept. 1, 3:47 p.m. CT

PointsBet went live at 12 p.m. CT, and the first bet in Kansas was a $50 wager at +150 odds on the Kansas City Royals to defeat the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night. Also, according to PointsBet, that particular wager was the most popular bet by ticket count and handle across the state Thursday.

Some four hours into the first day of legal wagering in Kansas, we can confirm that Barstool Sportsbook, FanDuel, and PointsBet were among the small group of operators that went live promptly at noon. Caesars missed that target, but is up and running, while BetMGM and DraftKings did not respond to inquiries about what times exactly their platforms launched.

We’ll leave you for now, with this useful bit of information from Kansas.com:

Sept. 1, 3:30 p.m. CT

A graphic provided by GeoComply reveals that over 200,000 geolocation checks have taken place and approximately 50,000 unique usernames were active in at least signing on to sports betting apps across Kansas. Most of the activity has been present near Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita.

Sept. 1, 3 p.m. CT

A tweet by Keith Humphrey, listed as a Navy veteran and CEO for an airline repair company, perhaps identifies the experience that many in Kansas felt on the day sports betting became available in the state.

Sept. 1, 2:30 p.m. CT

The Caesars Sportsbook app became available for download in Kansas. The first bet taken was $5 on the Kansas City Chiefs to reach the playoffs, “super boosted” at +100.

The sportsbook is also offering a special sign-up for first-time users in Kansas. First-time users who make a deposit and place a bet receive an additional 1,000 tier credits and 1,000 reward credits. If the first bet isn’t a winner, first-time users also receive a free bet equal to the amount of their first wager up to $1,250.

Caesars was the last of the six approved operators to go live Thursday. The next wave should include Bally Bet, FOX Bet, and Golden Nugget, which all have market access but as of Thursday did not have approval from the Kansas Lottery.

Sept. 1, 1:45 p.m. CT

As of now, Caesars Sportsbook has not gone live, though a spokesperson said that will soon happen. All of the other five approved sportsbooks have launched. Barstool Sportsbook and FanDuel have confirmed that their platforms went live promptly at noon CT, while BetMGM, DraftKings, and PointsBet are also live as of this writing, though it’s not clear what time they launched.

Sept. 1, 1:30 p.m. CT

Sept. 1, 1:20 p.m. CT

FanDuel retail sportsbook opened with a “soft” launch at the Kansas Star Casino in Wichita. The temporary retail sportsbook did go live and the first bet was for $20 on Oklahoma State on a moneyline of -2000 — for a return of $21. The Cowboys face Central Michigan Thursday night. Also, FanDuel’s first online bet came in at $10 on a Major League Baseball contest between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers. The wager was on over 7.5 total runs at -102 for a potential win of $19.80.

Sept. 1, 12:48 p.m. CT

On the first day of sports betting in Kansas, the first wager that DraftKings Sportsbook received was a $20 wager on a college football matchup taking place Thursday night between West Virginia and Pittsburgh. The bet was made on the point total being over 51.5 points.

Sept. 1, 12:40 p.m. CT

The official launch of sports betting in Kansas led to the announcement of two sportsbooks partnering with a professional sports team in Missouri. Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan met with the media on Thursday and shared the news about partnership deals with BetMGM and DraftKings.

“We’re strong believers in the benefits of legalized sports betting for our fans and also the financial impact it can have on the states that legalize it. We’re really excited that Kansas has officially legalized sports betting and the government, politicians, the folks in charge, have accelerated the timeline to be able to launch today,” said Donovan, according to the Kansas City Star. “With that we’re excited also to announce that we have formed partnerships with BetMGM and DraftKings to be official partners with our organization and create really unique ways for Chiefs Kingdom to activate and for our fans in the state of Kansas to enhance their experience in being a fan of this great team.” 

Sept. 1, 12:30 p.m. CT

The new Barstool Sportsbook at Hollywood Casino’s Kansas Speedway location kicked off the festivities there Thursday morning with a speech, ribbon cutting, and first bet from Gov. Laura Kelly. Kelly bet $15 — a nod to the number worn by Patrick Mahomes — on the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl.

Bartstool’s digital site went live promptly at noon CT Thursday.

Sept. 1, 12:29 p.m. CT

A Tulsa, Oklahoma, public defender tweets about Kansas going live with sports betting.

Thomas Reese, listed as a public defender in Tulsa, expresses disappointment that Oklahoma hasn’t legalized sports betting and thinks that Kansas’ launch places Oklahoma further behind neighboring states that already have sports wagering in place.

Sept. 1, 12:07 p.m. CT

785 Sports – K-State announces sports betting is now open in Kansas.

Sept. 1, 12 p.m. CT

Kansas Crossing Casino, which partners with PointsBet, BetMGM, and Caesars Sportsbooks, announces the launch of sports betting in Kansas.

Sept. 1, 12 p.m. CT

Kansas governor speaks at Hollywood Casino before placing the first sports bet in Kansas history.

Sept. 1, 12 p.m. CT

BetMGM entered into a multi-year partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs to become one of the team’s first sports betting partners.

“With a rich history and a passionate fan base, the Kansas City Chiefs are an ideal partner,” BetMGM Chief Revenue Officer Matt Prevost said via press release Thursday morning. “As we launch our sports betting platform in Kansas, we look forward to elevating the game-day experience for Chiefs fans through the region.”

The deal involves having BetMGM signage present inside Arrowhead Stadium, as well as across the Chiefs’ digital channels, with special offers, game-day experiences, and prizes for fans and season-ticket holders. While the Chiefs are certainly popular in Kansas, the team’s headquarters and stadium are in neighboring Missouri, which has yet to legalize wagering.

“As an industry leader in the space, we are excited to welcome BetMGM to Chiefs kingdom,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said. “We have invested significant time and energy advocating for sports wagering legislation, and today’s announcement is going to open the door for our fans to add to their experience for the 2022 season and beyond.”

Sept. 1, 12 p.m. CT

The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission approved PayNearMe –- a fintech company that enables iGaming and sports betting operators to process deposits and withdrawals –- to provide its MoneyLine platform to licensed operators across the state.

PayNearMe processes cash deposits for nine of the 10 largest U.S. operators, including BetMGM, PointsBet, FanDuel, and Caesars Sportsbook.

“These clients are going live just as the 2022 football season gets rolling, enabling fans to place legal wagers on the [University of Kansas] Jayhawks, [Kansas City] Chiefs, or any of their favorite sports teams,” said Michael Kaplan, PayNearMe’s chief revenue officer and general manager.

Hepisoping

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