Kansas House of Representatives Sports Betting Bill to Have Hearing

• The Kansas House of Representatives sports betting bill will be heard on Tuesday, March 22
• The House sports betting bill will legalize online and retail sports betting
• The Kansas House of Representatives and Senate both have differing sports betting bills

Maybe this time next year Kansas sports betting will be legal and residents will be able to place bets on the Jayhawks during the NCAA March Madness Tournament.

Kansas is ramping up discussions on sports betting yet again. A Kansas House of Representatives bill to legalize online and retail sports betting at the state’s casinos will have a hearing in the House Committee on Federal Affairs on Tuesday, March 22 at 8 a.m. local time.

House Bill 2740 will legalize online and retail sports betting at the state’s four lottery-run casinos, setting the online sports betting tax rate at 20% and retail sports betting at 14%. The Kansas Senate also introduced a sports betting bill last year that called for an online sports betting tax rate of 8% and 5.5% for retail sports betting. It’s the largest difference between the two legislative bills.

Professional, Collegiate Sports Betting Legalized

If approved, the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission will oversee sports betting in the state. The bill will allow for sports betting on professional events, collegiate events, motor race events, and any special athletic event deemed appropriate by the racing and gaming commission.

If approved in Tuesday’s hearing, the bill will likely go to a conference committee to find a compromise between the House and Senate sports betting proposals.

House Bill 2740 would allow up to three online sports betting operators per Kansas casino. Originally, the bill only called for one allowable partnership, but was later amended to allow for three to model the Senate sports betting bill.

Additional Bill Details

In addition to state casinos, Kansas Native American Tribes would have the opportunity to amend their gaming compacts to allow for retail or online sports betting at their facilities.

The sports betting bill also includes the following:

• State casinos would be required to give $100,000 to the Problem Gambling and Addictions Grant Fund each year.
• The minimum age to participate in sports betting will be 21.

The Kansas legislative session will end on April 1.