The Kansas Lottery has stated that sports betting looks set to beat the initial state revenue projections by more than $4 million across its first year of operation.
Ahead of the industry launch in September 2022, the Kansas Lottery projected that sports betting would generate about $1.8 million in revenue for the state.
But speaking to local news, Cory Thone, public information officer for the Kansas Lottery, said that the fiscal year end results showed that from September 2022 through July 2023, the lottery collected approximately $5.8 million.
“The first year went really well. July of last year, it officially became legal and we set out, I say we it was us with KRGC and our casino partners and everything, put in a lot of work to get it ready to go by September. And then from September through July, our first fiscal we did about 5.8 million overall and transferred to the state which is higher than our original projections. “
Thone felt that the success of Kansas teams helped drive revenues to higher than expected levels:
“It was a really fun year to be a fan of sports in Kansas. You had KU football and K-State football do really well. You had KU football and KU basketball do really well. Oh, and then we have this team in Kansas City win a big championship or whatever and so, you know, we’ve had a lot of success in the area with sports, which I think motivated people to take part because it was fun to bet on teams you like.”
July revenues
The most recent revenue report issued by the lottery shows that Kansas Sports Betting legal operators generated $6.8 million in combined revenues during the month of July from $79.7 million in wagers. This represents a 66.2% increase on the previous month’s revenue total of just over $4 million.
Both DraftKings and FanDuel continue to dominate the market reporting revenues of $3.2 million and $2.4 million respectively. This represents 82.3% of all revenues generated during July.
An experienced iGaming commentator and analyst based in New York City - Jenny reports on regulation and gambling industry news and events.