While some of the points sent to the AG’s office have already passed, others still need some work before final regulations approval is achieved. This needs to happen within days, however, as the NFL regular season games start on September 8 and everyone had their hopes up that sports betting would be finalized by then.
Full Steam Ahead
On Thursday FOX4 reported on Kansas Attorney General (AG) Derek Schmidt’s office stating that some “significant issues” were identified with the sports betting regulations that were recently passed to it by the Kansas Lottery for final approval. As per the report, three proposed regulations have been approved with the rest being returned for various reasons, ranging from proposed advertising guidelines, to general or special legal definitions. Since the Lottery hasn’t commented on this yet, it’s unclear what exactly needs to be resolved. However, Kansas Lottery Public Information Officer Cory Thone has reportedly called this “ordinary course of business,” so it seems the Lottery is confident that the issues will be resolved in a timely manner.
The Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission (KRGC) also submitted regulations for final approval to the AG’s office and the review of those is also “being expedited”, as a spokesperson from the office said in the news release on Friday. Kansas lawmakers’ approval of sports wagering in the state came with some oversight changes, however, leaving only the AG’s office as reviewer for the regulatory documents. This, added to the enormous public interest and the closing deadline of the September 1 deadline for a “soft launch”, all mounts pressure to Derek Schmidt’s office to perform and review everything rather quickly. John Milburn – a spokesman at the AG office – was reported saying that it would provide its feedback to the Lottery “within days” and that it intends to “approve those regulations as soon as the agency fixes the legal problems in their initial version,” signalling that no corners are being cut in the process, even as rushed as it might feel.
Soft Launch Date Inching Closer
The September 1 soft launch was announced as such on the Lottery’s YouTube channel by Stephen Durrell – the executive director of Kansas Lottery – as well, with the mention of September 8 as the date for a “full launch of sports wagering”. The September 8 date also coincides with the game from the regular NFL season.
Regardless, sports betting is supposed to start Sept. 1. A soft launch is supposed to happen at that time, but sports betting officially begins Sept. 8, the same day as the first regular season NFL game. Durrell also mentioned that it’s been working closely with the KRGC, as well as listing the official partners of the Lottery: Boot Hill Casino and Resort in Dodge City, Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane, Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway in Kansa City, Kansas, as well as Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel in Pittsburg, Kansas.
It’s expected that probably all of those casinos will be offering sports betting in situ, making for a more attractive destination to those in close proximity to the locations, with Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel being a prime candidate to attract visitors from Missouri, where sports betting came up short this year.