TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas officials took another step on Friday to bring legalized sports gambling in the state.
The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission unanimously approved regulations for sports betting during its meeting Friday in Topeka.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kellysigned a bill in May to allow sports betting in the state.
The commission is responsible for coming up with regulations, but the regulations still require final approval from the Kansas Attorney General's Office.
According to the commission agenda, the commission was tasked with clarifying specific language related to sports betting.
The regulations also detail a ticket writer's duties when they begin a shift, outlines reserve requirements as well as issuance and sports wagering ticket control requirements, among other things.
Commissioners hope to get betting started before the upcoming NFL season.
"We don’t have control over the start date, there are a lot of different moving parts and different agencies involved and different players," David Moses, chairman of the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission, said. "We’ve done what we need to do to get this moving to try to meet the start date of the NFL football regular season."
There's not a clear timeline for when Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt may approve the regulations, which would only be temporary.
Casino managers will also need to work with the Kansas Lottery to agree on contracts, a date for that wasn't also immediately available.
According to Moses, that's now the most important step for betting to begin.
"Getting people to agree to a contract for something brand new in Kansas does take some time," he said. "I’m sure they’re working diligently to get that done."
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