Kentucky’s sports betting market will soon have a new player as regulators approved Prime Sports’ license application this week.
At a special meeting of the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation on Dec. 10, the board of directors granted the operator the right to launch in the Bluegrass State.
“The KHRGC staff recommended approval after carefully reviewing the application and confirming Prime Sports had complied with Kentucky’s regulatory requirements,” the KHRGC’s Director of Sports Betting Hannah Sims told SBC Americas. “We welcome Prime Sports to Kentucky and look forward to working with them in 2025.”
Prime Sports COO Jon Richards told SBC Americas that the company is “excited” to provide a quality sportsbooks to Kentucky users. Details of the launch date are still being worked out.
Prime Sports is already available to users in Ohio and New Jersey.
The brand promises on its website that more state launches will come in the future. Its parent company, U.K.-based Plannatech, also secured a license to operate a sportsbook in Arizona in August but has yet to start taking bets in the Grand Canyon State.
Prime Sportsbook’s CEO Lee Terfloth departed the company last month and now has a new role with Delaware North as its Chief Interactive Gaming Officer.
Kentucky sports betting proves to be big business in first year
During Tuesday’s meeting, Simms said that since Kentucky legalized sports betting in September 2023, state residents have placed $2.9 billion worth of bets through the end of October 2024. That has yielded $46.1 million in state betting taxes.
In October 2024 alone, total wagering handle was $274.9 million.
As well as giving Prime the green light, the KHRGC unanimously approved renewed licenses for the existing nine sportsbooks in the state: bet365, BetMGM, Caesars, Circa Sports, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics, FanDuel and Kambi.
