State Rep: Kansas Sports Betting “Much Bigger” Than Expected

• Rep. Stephanie Clayton (D-19) said Kansas sports betting has overachieved so far
• Clayton helped push sports betting bill through in Sunflower State
• Millions of bets placed in state since September 1

A key figure in the legalization of Kansas sports betting still can’t believe how big wagering is in the Sunflower State.

Rep. Stephanie Clayton (D-19), one of the Democratic proponents of sports betting that helped push the bill to legalization, said she has been extraordinarily pleased with Kansas and its sports betting results so far.

Kansas Sports Betting Bigger Than Expected

As reported by the Kansas Lottery, from Sept. 1 through Sept. 11 more than 2.4 million sports bets were placed in the Sunflower State. The breakdown of retail compared with online sports bets was not available.

“The number one takeaway so far is that this is much bigger than I expected it would be. It was bigger than it was projected to legislators when we were taking votes on it. They underestimated the level of excitement people would have for this. It’s working by design and people are flocking over into Kansas to participate,”  Clayton told Sports Betting Dime.

Kansas has a Republican supermajority, so the bipartisan build of the sports betting bill was extraordinarily satisfying, Clayton said.

It’s also satisfying to know that Kansas was able to pass and launch sports betting before rival Missouri, she said.

“Honestly, a lot of the Kansas City legislators, legislators on the Missouri said, they wanted sports betting as well. It was nice to get it done first. I’ll be nice, though, to the representatives on the Missouri side. I’m sorry guys,” she said.

According to GeoComply, a geolocation and fraud specialist company, in the first eight hours of legalized Kansas sports betting on Sept. 1, the company blocked over 16,000 attempts by Missourians to access Kansas sportsbooks. Over 60% of the attempts were from Kansas City, MO.

From Sept. 1 to Sept. 16, over 340,000 attempts were made in Missouri to place a bet using Kansas online sportsbooks were blocked by the company.

Kansas Sports Betting Proving Popular

Kansas is reaping the rewards of the quickest state turnaround from a bill being signed into law to its launch. Kansas only needed about 74 days compared with Iowa’s previous record-setting 95 day turnaround. Arizona needed 148 days to launch its sports betting program after its bill became law, now the third-quickest turnaround in the country.

The Kansas Lottery noted that bettors have so far chased in over $47 million in winnings from Sept. 1 through Sept. 11.

The Kansas City Chiefs were the most popular bet on sports team during the time frame, followed by the Kansas City Royals, the Kansas State Wildcats, and the Kansas Jayhawks.

Per the sports betting bill signed into law by Gov. Laura Kelly (D) just three months ago, each casino is able to offer both in-person and online sports betting with up to three sports betting operators.