Kansas Sports Betting

kansas sports betting

Kansas sports betting has gone through a big change in recent months. The ink isn’t even dry on the SB 84 bill legalizing retail and online sports betting state-wide. A lot of sportsbooks and sports betting sites are expected to open up come the launch of legalized sports betting on July 1st. Read on to find out all the details on the state of Kansas sports betting and where you can join in the fun.

Legal Online Kansas Sports Betting

As yet, at this very moment, legal sports betting is not available for Kansas residents who enjoy sports wagering. The latest news is the new sports betting bill will take effect on July 1st, but there are a number of new jersey sports betting sites expected to pop up in the state when the day comes.

After receiving a signature from Kansas Governor Laura Kelly the sports betting bill will have a date so they can start working on establishing regulations for a launch. It’s possible that this won’t happen until later in 2022, at the beginning of the NFL season, or it might not happen until early 2023.

The authorities in charge of the sports betting legislation still need to devise some guidelines for the brand new endeavor and establish some kind of licensing system. It is possible that the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission and the Kansas Lottery will require a number of months to get everything in order, which may result in there being insufficient time for online sportsbook operations in 2022.

You can still bet on horseracing, which has forever been exempt from the US’s near-blanket ban on sports betting. There is the Hollywood Casino in Kansas City available if you are looking for some horse racing betting until the option for more Kansas sports betting opens up.

These predicted online sportsbook providers include Barstool, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel, Hard Rock, and PointsBet. Then there are sports betting sites like MyBookie, Bovada, BetOnline, X-Bet, and Bet US and you can make a safe bet that as the market expands, more options will emerge. They cover every major sport, such as football, soccer, hockey, baseball, and even more niche sports like e-sports and roller derby.

How To Pick A Kansas Sports Betting Site

As long as you make sure that the site is licensed and regulated by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, you will be safe to partake in Kansas sports gambling.

You can sign up for any of these sportsbooks or Kansas sports betting sites easily from your phone as soon as the sun rises on July 1st. The registration process is simple enough. To begin with, you’ll only need to put in some basic details: your name, date of birth, and address to be sure you can play legally, and your email address and chosen password to create an account.

It’s possible you will be asked to provide proof of any of these with documents down the line. Once that’s over you can add your bank details, make a deposit, and start betting.

History / Timeline Of Sports Betting in Kansas

Kansas has one of the shortest histories with sports betting considering it is one of the latest to have the idea legalized. Even so far as to say that it won’t be legal for another month.

Kansas sports betting legislation goes into effect from July 1st, 2022, so you can celebrate the 4th of July with your newly downloaded sportsbook. There aren’t any legal online or retail sportsbooks in Kansas sports betting at the moment, but that is sure to change soon.

The story of Kansas sports betting starts only in March of 2022 when a reworked bill featuring elements of past attempts was sent to the House committee for more reworking. The SB 84 suffered a hiccup in the procedural process that set it back for a moment, but on April 1, a conference committee came to an agreement and the SB 84 bill legalizing Kansas sports betting was approved by the House.

In a late-night session on April 29th, the Kansas Senate voted 21-13 in favor of SB 84 and it was sent to Gov Laura Kelly’s desk to be signed. As of May 12, the bill was signed and as of July 1st, retail and online Kansas sports betting will be legalized.

Right now, there is a lot of work being done to set up regulations and compliance, as well as sportsbooks being developed and existing sportsbooks partnering up with casinos, such as the Boot Hill Casino, which announced it will be working with DraftKings and Bally Bet to deliver Kansas sports betting.

Kansas Sports Teams

Sports fans in Kansas sports betting come very variedly despite their somewhat limited choices. It covers American football, soccer, baseball, basketball, hockey, and more. There are no statewide teams, but fans tend to support any teams coming out of Kansas City, whether on the Missouri or Kansas state side of things.

In Kansas City, Kansas, there is the Sporting Kansas City soccer team and the Kansas City Monarchs baseball team. There is also the Garden City Wind and Wichita Wind Surge baseball teams. Wichita also has an ice hockey team named the Wichita Thunder and a football team called Wichita Force.

Other city teams include the Kaw Valley FC soccer team which covers Lawrence and Topeka, Kansas, the Salina Liberty football team, the Southwest Kansas Storm from Dodge City football team, and the Topeka Tropics, football team.

Kansas sports betting fans will surely know that Kansas City Chiefs are in fact not a Kansas team. Kansas City has always straddled the state line, but the state line was moved in 1838 and now the Kansas City Chiefs belong to Missouri. The thing is, when a city is split directly down the middle by a state line, you’re going to get a lot of crossovers, so it only makes sense that, despite this technicality, there are a lot of Kansas City Chief fans in Kansas’ sports betting community.

That goes for other Missouri teams, too. Major League Baseball fans will enjoy watching and betting on the Kansas City Royals and Major League Soccer fans like to catch a game with the Sporting Kansas City or with the women’s team Kansas City Current.

And then there are the teams in the city of St Louis, which is a 3-hour journey as the next city over from Kansas sports betting fans. There is the National Hockey League team of the St Louis Blues, the Major League Baseball team, the St Louis Cardinals, and the Major League Baseball team the St Louis City SC.

Not to mention the minor league sports teams in Kansas City, including the rugby teams the Kansas City Blues and Kansas City Rogues, the soccer team Kansas City Comets, the hockey team the Kansas City Mavericks, the baseball team the Kansas City Monarchs, the soccer team the Sporting Kansas City II, the Australian rules football team Kansas City Power and the American football women’s team the Kansas City Storm. Plus, a range of other minor league teams across Missouri state including four in St Louis.

Kansas sports betting fans might have to share their teams, but it makes for a lot of sports fans with a lot of options to go around from neighbors that are about as direct as it gets.

That is only Kansas’ eastern most neighbor. There is also Nebraska in the north, Colorado to the west, and Oklahoma to the south, making for a lot of teams that Kansas can get behind if they are so fancy.

Nebraska has a lot of professional sports teams, including the Lincoln Saltdogs and Omaha Storm Chasers in baseball. Colorado and Oklahoma, on the other hand, have lots of professional teams spanning even more sports genres, including baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, and even lacrosse, roller derby, and softball.

Baseball teams include the Oklahoma City Dodgers and 30 others across the state of Oklahoma, the Colorado Rockies, and seven others in Colorado. Then there are the less mainstream sports, like Major League Lacrosse’s Denver Outlaws, roller derby’s Oklahoma Victory Dolls, and the Oklahoma City Stars softball team.

So, it’s clear to see that Kansas sports betting fans have a wide range of tastes and plenty of options to choose from.

Collegiate Sports Betting

The University of Kansas Jayhawks has more influence than any other college team in the state of Kansas. The University of Kansas fields competitive teams in a wide variety of sports and is widely recognized as a dominant force in the sport of basketball.

Kansas residents who aren’t fans of the Jayhawks might cheer for the Kansas State Wildcats instead. Wichita State University, whose basketball team is known as the Shockers, is located in Kansas. The Shockers have had some success in the NCAA Tournament over the years and are considered a dangerous opponent for power conference teams.

Retail Sports Betting in Kansas

Kansas is home to nine casinos: five tribal, one racino, and three casinos. The three casinos are named the Kansas Star Casino, the Prairie Band casino, and the Hollywood Casino.

The Kansas Star Casino outside Wichita offers over 1,850 slot machines, four dining experiences, and an entertainment venue where you can enjoy live music. The Prairie Band Casino and the Hollywood Casino are in Kansas City. The Prairie Band casino offers over 1,200 slot machines, live entertainment, golf, and various dining experiences. The Hollywood Casino offers 2,000 slot machines, live concerts, restaurants, and the Kansas Speedway.

If Kansas sports betting fans are looking to get out of Kansas for a weekend away, there are a lot of options in the neighboring states. In Missouri, for example, there are 13 retail casinos, including a riverboat casino. The three biggest are made up of the Ameristar Kansas City, the Ameristar Casino Resort Spa St. Charles, and the River City Casino and Hotel.

In Colorado, there are 33 casinos to take advantage of, including two tribal casinos. The three biggest casinos are made up of the Ameristar Black Hawk, the Colorado Grande Casino, and the Isle Casino Hotel – Black Hawk.

The Ameristar casinos are the top choice if you want to partake in sports betting, as they are part of the Barstool sportsbook, on top of their range of table games and slot machines. The Isle Casino Hotel – Black Hawk is also a good idea because they offer sports betting with the Caesars sportsbook.

Tribal Casinos

There are three tribal casinos in the state of Kansas. They are made up of the 7th Street Casino, the Casino White Cloud, and the Sac and Fox Casino.

The 7th Street Casino is located in Kansas City and is run by the Wyandott Tribe of Oklahoma. The casino offers over 575 slot machines and the Casino Café for a burger, as well as access to the Lucky 7 Club, which offers exclusive promotions. However, it doesn’t appear to offer sports betting on the premises.

The Casino White Cloud offers over 380 slot machines, bingo, and virtual table games for you to play, in a venue owned by the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. Take advantage of one of the offered country cabins for a weekend away and eat at the Mahaska Restaurant which serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They also do not appear to offer Kansas sports betting in the venue.

The Sac and Fox Casino offers almost 600 slots, bingo rooms, and lots of table games. Run by the Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, the Sac and Fox Casino offers a bus tour, RV hookups, and four dining venues, including the Game King Bar Top which offers video poker and blackjack. Plus, there is an entertainment venue where you can see the World’s #1 Bruno Mars tribute show.

If you want to look elsewhere for your tribal casinos in search of Kansas sports betting, you can head to any one of the surrounding states, save for Missouri, which doesn’t have any tribal casinos.

In Oklahoma, there is a whopping 108 tribal casinos to choose from. When you venture into the Sooner State, you can find the WinStar World Casino, run by the Chickasaw Thackerville Nation, which offers sports betting, the Muscogee Creek Nation-run River Spirit Casino Resort, and the Grand Casino Shawnee run by the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, which doesn’t offer sports betting.

In Nebraska, there is the Santee Sioux Tribe of Nebraska-run Ohiya Casino and Resort, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe-operated Rosebud Casino, and the Iron Horse Bar and Casino run by the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Unfortunately, while they all offer slots, poker, and blackjack, they don’t offer sports betting.

If you head to Colorado, you can find the Sky Ute Casino Resort run by the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, and the Ute Mountain Casino Hotel operated by the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. They offer a variety of gambling activities, including poker, blackjack, slots, and roulette, but they don’t offer sports betting.

Daily Fantasy Sports

Due to a large number of sports teams and therefore eager Kansas sports betting fans, there is a lot of daily fantasy sports fans within the state.

There are four main daily fantasy sports suppliers in America, and it depends on what state you are in whether you can access them at any given moment, but Kansas sports betting fans have all four of them available. They are FanDuel, DraftKings, Yahoo, and Fantasy Draft.

If you want to access daily fantasy sports betting while traveling, you should know that Oklahoma, Nebraska, and Colorado all have the four daily sports betting suppliers, while Missouri is missing the Yahoo supplier.

Whether daily fantasy sports betting is legal is another issue, fantasy sports betting is in a grey area of law since it’s generally not made legal and therefore is often stuck under the umbrella of illegal sports betting. However, that is changing and fortunately, Kansas is one of the states that has legalized daily fantasy sports betting.

Offshore Sports Betting

Due to Kansas sports betting finally being made legal, there is little reason to bet on offshore sites, however, there is also nothing stopping you in terms of laws.

In terms of personal preference and safety, however, there are a few reasons not to. Make sure that any offshore site you use is regulated by a gambling authority operating in the US. Keep a look out for authorization from the Costa Rica Gambling Authority or the Curacao eGaming Authority to keep your funds safe.

If you bet with an unregulated online offshore sportsbook or casino and something goes wrong, where for whatever reason, you lose your money, you won’t have the protection of the gambling authority and have no one fighting in your corner to get your money back.

Kansas Horse Racing & Off-Track Betting

There is one horse racing and casino venue in Kansas. In Kansas City, there is the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway with a 1.5-mile-long racing. The Hollywood Casino is a chain casino that offers poker, slots, and table games on top of horse race betting.

However, it doesn’t offer Kansas sports betting beyond horse racing as yet. But the Hollywood Casino Kansas Speedway makes up for it by also offering four dining experiences, including a steak house, and the Sporting KC experience, which offers transport to matches with the Sporting Kansas City soccer team, dining specials, and a great game to get into.

Final Thoughts / Summary

Kansas is a state with a lot of love for sports without a lot of outlets to show that appreciation. The many sports teams across the vast amount of sports that are popular in Kansas will surely result in a lot of Kansas sports betting fans.

Luckily, with the legalization of mobile sports betting finally passed this year, fans won’t have to wait long to take up sports betting. In addition to the horse race betting that was the norm before the SB 84 bill passed, there will soon be sports betting and daily fantasy sports betting on the table for Kansas sports betting fans.

With plenty of venues within and beyond Kansas state lines, Kansas sports betting fans will also have plenty of choices in where they can make their bets. However, with the legalization of Kansas sports betting online sportsbooks, sports betting can become more common, more affordable, and easier for a more comfortable gambling experience. Players will soon find a wealth of options readily available for them to try.

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About Joe Kizlauskas

Joe is a seasoned iGaming copywriter and speaker who has been in the business since 2015. He's written more words on all elements of Casinos, Slots, Bingo & Sports Betting than he likes to remember, and he's contributed material to a number of well-known brands. Joe may be seen playing 5 a side, at the gym or playing games on his Playstation when he is not writing.