Eighteen-year-old gamblers in KY can rejoice as domestic sportsbooks are now positioned for an early September debut. Sports betting in Kentucky was approved earlier this year, and local books have stepped on the gas in order to start taking wagers in time for the 2023-24 NFL season.
September 7, 2023, is the day that Kentucky sportsbooks will open their doors to the betting public. The only minor downer is that the first three weeks of action will take place at brick-and-mortar venues, as mobile sports betting apps are poised for a September 28th release.
KY now joins the overwhelming majority of legal sports betting states but separates itself from the pack by allowing 18 and older players to partake.
The main reason that The Bluegrass State is 18-friendly is its historic horse racing betting industry. In-person sportsbooks will largely reside inside existing racebooks, and they already allow eighteen and over clientele.
The minimum age to bet on sports across the country is typically set at 21 to coincide with norms for casino gambling and alcohol sales. Many domestic venues opt out of service to 18-to-20-year-old players because they serve alcohol, and KY sportsbooks also have this prerogative.
That will not be the case when using mobile sports betting apps, however, as alcohol is not a factor.
Much of the local action will be centered around betting on the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals basketball and football programs. Some states have enacted prohibitions for placing wagers on in-state college teams or a simple ban on NCAA prop bets, but KY has left the door open for all varieties of UK and Louisville betting.
That’s not to say that legislators can’t change their minds on in-state college sports betting, but it is all systems go for now.
Sportsbook windows will not open in time to accept wagers on the first college football games for the Wildcats and Cardinals, but their Week 2 contests are fair game.
Because Kentucky permits 18 and older players to bet on sports at in-person, online, and mobile outlets, local players have no reason to be enticed by a bordering state that also features domestic sportsbooks.
Offshore sportsbook sites will continue to serve the KY region and have done so for over a decade. These international sports betting sites provide election betting and entertainment odds, two categories that local books will not create lines for.
State-licensed sportsbooks only allow for wagers to be placed with US dollars, but the offshore sports gambling sites that we recommend accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Tether, Ethereum, Cardano, Dogecoin, and more.
It is expected that domestic gambling markets will embrace crypto in the coming years, but for now, it is exclusively accepted at international venues.
