Kentucky officials report sports-wagering revenue, outline uses for problem-gambling fund

Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation officials and state behavioral-health staff told a legislative subcommittee on Tuesday that sports wagering has generated millions for state accounts and that the state's problem-gambling assistance fund is being used primarily to build treatment capacity and public education rather than to directly reimburse Medicaid.

Hannah Sims, director for sports wagering at the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation, told the Budget Subcommittee on Economic Development, Protection, Tourism and Energy that sports wagering activity from the launch in September 2023 through fiscal-year 2024 drove $34,840,000 into the state pension fund and about $9,931,000 into the problem-gambling assistance fund. Sims said fiscal-year 2025 deposits to date include roughly $18,500,000 to the pension fund and $556,000 to the problem-gambling fund, bringing all-time totals to about $53.34 million for the pension account and $1.48 million for the problem-gambling assistance account.

The subcommittee heard that the state’s total amount wagered from September 2023 through late 2024 was about $3.5 billion, with approximately…