KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Sports wagering in the state of Kansas is in its full operational phase following a soft launch Sept. 1.
Kansas Lottery, who is in charge of wagering operations, says players won't notice a difference between the two phases. The soft launch period simply gave players and platforms time to familiarize themselves with sports wagering and registration before the start of the NFL season.
"Folks have been wagering effectively on all the platforms. Our casino partners and all the platforms have been doing a great job of getting people to understand how sports wagering works here in the state, and it's worked for them very well," said Stephen Durrell, executive director of Kansas Lottery.
Kansas Lottery says players placed the most bets on college football during the soft launch. Teams like Kansas State University, the University of Kansas and the Kansas City Royals saw the most bets.
Since the NFL season hadn't started before the soft launch, the Chiefs did not make it within the top five betted teams, but Durrell thinks that will change.
"KU and K-State are very popular, and as we get into basketball season, that will remain popular," Durrell said. "The Chiefs are going to be extremely popular. Folks really like to wager on the home teams."
Some people notified Kansas Lottery that credit card transactions weren't going through, causing some players to experience issues placing bets even though they were within state lines.
Although the issues were not widespread, Durrell says they have since been addressed. Select credit card companies were unaware that sports betting went live in Kansas.
"There was evidence over the last week that people outside the state tried to place wagers when they shouldn't, but the law is very clear that they had to actually be located in the state to place a wager," Durrell said.
While it's still too early to determine how much revenue Kansas saw since sports wagering first launched, Kansas Lottery predicts mobile platforms will continue to be the most popular outlet for wagering.
