Kentucky lawmakers have introduced a wide-ranging bill that modifies several statutes governing sports betting activity in the state, including rules relating to prop bets and the legal betting age.
Under House Bill 904 (HB904), submitted on 4 March, sportsbooks and service providers would not be able to provide or accept a prop bet on individual players in college games featuring Kentucky college teams.
Other states have also explored prop bet bans, including Louisiana, where a new bill seeks to ban them completely.
The ban would not affect betting on the outcomes of games, but on how individual players perform. For instance, the ban would affect a bet on the number of points a player would score or the number of passing yards a player would achieve in a game.
HB904 also includes operational requirements for sportsbooks licensed in the state.
Operators must verify the identity of patrons making deposits or withdrawals and use commercially reasonable technology to protect personal information.
Geolocation systems must be used to ensure wagers are accepted only from individuals physically located within Kentucky, and servers used to process wagers must be maintained within the state.
Licensed racetracks would be permitted to contract with up to three service providers to manage sports wagering operations, including online betting through websites or mobile applications.
Any platform offering sports betting must operate under the brand of the racetrack, the service provider, or both.
Betting age raised to 21
The legislation also modifies the legal age requirements for gambling participation in Kentucky.
The age of majority in the state is set at 18 years, although the bill emphasises that individuals would need to be at least 21 years old to participate in sports wagering, fantasy contests, and charitable gaming activities if approved.
The age requirement for sports betting in most US states where the practice is legal is already 21.
However, Kentucky is one of six jurisdictions that set the minimum age at 18. The others are Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., and Wyoming.
The bill also explains the penalties associated with illegal gaming activities.
A person who knowingly allows unlicensed gaming activities to occur on their property and fails to stop the activities within a reasonable time may face criminal charges. The offence is classified as a Class B misdemeanour under Kentucky law.
Another component addresses the horse racing sector.
The bill defines a racetrack extension as a facility owned, leased or purchased by an association licensed by the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation that conducts pari-mutuel wagering on historical horse races using approved terminals.
These racetrack extensions are distinct from traditional racetracks. Facilities used for horse training or locations where live horse races are run for purses, stakes or prizes are excluded from the definition.
HB904 also allows local governments to apply occupational licence fees to racetrack extension facilities.
County governments, consolidated local governments and urban-county governments would be permitted to impose these fees under existing statutes.
Cities would be granted similar authority to levy occupational licence fees on racetrack extension venues operating within their jurisdiction.
