Legalizing sports gambling in Kansas seemed like a safe bet earlier this year. Its a new source of tax dollars and enjoys bipartisan support.
Yet so far, attempts to advance a sports gambling bill have struck out.
In baseball terms, its the bottom of the ninth inning for the issue this year. Lawmakers return this week for the final days of the session. If they dont advance a bill, sports gambling in Kansas will be benched until 2020.
Kansas is one of dozens of states racing ahead on sports betting after the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down a federal ban last year. States are competing for the attention of sports fans and the tax dollars siphoned off their bets.
Where should you bet and whose eyes are on the data?
Where gamblers would actually place their bets has been one of the sticking points in the debate.
Inside the Hollywood Casino in Kansas City, Kansas, General Manager Rick Skinner stands among 2,000 blinking, beeping slot and video poker machines. To him, sports gaming would fit right in among the gambling already happening at the casino.
It would just be another great attraction for the bricks-and-mortar facilities in the state, he said. Were one of four casinos in Kansas, but we have four competitors right across the river.
Sports betting could help the state-owned casinos in Kansas compete with those Missouri gambling halls and bring gaming money to the state.
Skinner wants lawmakers to consider another thing: whoever runs the sports book takes on financial risk.
In the long term, the house ultimately wins, but that can come with big short-term losses. The low-scoring Super Bowl and Tiger Woods making a surprise comeback both ended up costing sports books money.
Does the state want to take on that risk by running gaming directly?
Tiger Woods winning the Masters was a prime example, Skinner said. It was the biggest one-day loss in sports book golfing.
Online apps for sports betting, and who runs them, pose another tricky issue.
Penn National Gaming operates the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. If allowed, company officials argue they can compete with widespread illegal online gambling that already draws in more than $60 billion a year.
