LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentuckians are spending large on each sports activities betting and slot-style historic horse racing machines, to the tune of a number of billion {dollars}. Leaders from the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation offered an replace to lawmakers Thursday on simply how prevalent these packages have grow to be, and the way the state is utilizing the tax {dollars} they bring about in.
Since changing into authorized two years in the past, Kentuckians have wagered closed to 5 billion {dollars} on sports activities betting, in accordance to the KHRC. Nearly all of it’s performed on telephone apps like DraftKings or FanDuel. The state’s public pension fund acquired $73 million of that, and $2 million was given to downside playing assist.
“In July alone, sports wagering excise tax collections grew 14% year over year,” stated Hannah Simms, director of sports activities wagering on the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation.
In the presentation to state lawmakers, KHRC additionally broke down numbers on historic horse racing machines, which function basically like a slot machine, however are authorized and controlled in Kentucky.
“Peri-mutual wagering continues to be a powerful driver of Kentucky’s economy and a cornerstone of its equine legacy,” stated Melissa Combs-Wright, director of pari-mutuel wagering on the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation.
The KHRC stated that within the final a number of years, the variety of historic horse racing machines in Kentucky has continued to develop. Up from round 5,000 machines in 2020 to over 8,000 right now.
“Amounts bet on these slot machines in our state — the amounts are just booming. However, the actual revenue that’s going into the state and benefiting Kentuckians remains really low,” stated Patience Martin, who’s the state tax and funds coverage fellow with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.
A current report from the left-leaning Kentucky Center for Economic Policy discovered that tax collected on machines in different states outpaces Kentucky.
Of the $11 billion wagered on horse racing in 2025, the state collected lower than $200 million in taxes. About half of that cash goes to the state’s normal fund; the remaining helps the horse racing business.
“We could be generating millions more dollars annually to put toward important state investments if we were to just continue to just move toward taxing them at a rate even just comparable to our neighboring casino states,” Martin stated.
Neither state lawmakers nor the gaming company indicated they had been prepared to elevate that tax fee.
Martin additionally urged that if taxes are raised, more cash may very well be put towards serving to folks with playing points.
The Kentucky Center for Economic Policy report discovered income from historic horse racing machines far outpaced stay horse racing. They discovered final 12 months, Churchill Downs introduced in roughly 4 occasions as a lot cash from the slot-like machines. The firm owns two gaming facilities in Louisville and closed its in-person sportsbook at its monitor in February. Churchill Downs additionally operates amenities in a number of different states.