KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Placing a sports bet legally in Kansas may soon become a reality. The bill is now sitting on Gov. Laura Kelly's desk after passing in the Senate early Friday morning.
If signed into law, sports betting could take months to get going. The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission would be involved in the process.
"I would say our main concerns and roles are to make sure that we uphold the integrity of gaming," Todd Allen, with the commission, said.
Allen said the agency would be the regulatory body for sports wagering.
Allen sees hammering out the bill's details as the biggest hurdle, should it become law.
"I think just one, figuring out all the details of the bill, what we can do, what we can't do, then getting rules and regulations set up so that we'll be able to operate as the state intended us to do," Allen said.
The bill that made its way through the Kansas legislature would put a 10% tax on each bet.
The lottery commission projects sports wagering could bring in nearly $41 million over five years.
According to the bill, most of the revenue would go into a fund to attract professional sports teams like the Kansas City Chiefs.
The lottery commission is the other piece that would help get sports betting off the ground. They would own and operate sports wagering in Kansas.
Most likely, the lottery said they would work with casinos to manage the day to day operations. The casinos could contract out with different sports wagering businesses.
The hope is that you could legally place a sports bet by this fall. While Kelly hasn't signed the bill yet, she's made statements that seem favorable for the bill in the past.
