Alex Gold hosts a sports betting radio show on KWCH in Wichita, Kansas. He has his pulse on the state’s movement to legalize sports gambling and set a launch date of September 1.
To that end, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission (KRGC) unanimously approved regulations during its recent meeting, a move that can only push the ball closer to the goal line, Gold said.
“Earlier, it was the Kansas Lottery passing some of their similar regulations. Now it’ll head over to the attorney general’s office for the next step. There’s a lot of optimism that it could happen by the start of week one of the NFL season,” he said.
Next up will be confirmation of sports betting apps for phones and computers. Half of the dozen potential apps are seeking final acceptance, according to KWCH.
For now, the regulations are not permanent. By keeping them temporary, it speeds up the licensing process, Gold said.
“They have to have the final regulations in place by 2023. This is somewhat of a workaround to get it up and allow temporary regulations to put in place,” said Gold.
With all this going on, the launch date was announced by Governor Laura Kelly.
The KRGC says next steps are up to the AG’s office. Todd Allen is with the KRGC and says swift progress is being made to accepting wagers, according to WIBW.
“We had drafts for sports wagering regulations that went before our commission,” said Allen. “Our commission passed those with a few amendments and we are working on getting those amendments incorporated into the regulations right now and this week we will send those off to the Attorney General’s office.”
Sports wagering will debut in casinos and on mobile apps.
“There are some geolocation things that are built into those applications that allow us to geo-fence off the state so if you step into Missouri,” said Allen. “Your application will just shut down and you won’t be able to make a sports wager.”
The regulations going to the Attorney General’s office will be temporary regulations, meaning final changes can be made later.
“With temporary regulations there are a few less steps in the process and it helps us to be able to expedite and be able to get those rules in place without having to go through a long process to get things started. That way we can also do permanent regulations at a later date.”
The sports betting bill was signed into law by Kelly in May and became law on July 1. Now it is up to the Kansas Attorney General’s office to finalize the rules and regulations before being made available in Kansas.
