Kansas Set to Take Sports Bets in Time for Football Season

After legalizing sports betting in May, the state of Kansas will be ready to take bets for football season.

Gov. Laura Kelly announced that Kansas would begin taking online and in-person bets with a reported “soft launch” at four-state owned casinos and their affiliated mobile apps starting Sept. 1 — right in time for Week 1 of college football.

Kansas sports betting will open in earnest a week later on Sept. 8 — the day the NFL season begins with a game between the Bills and defending-champion Rams.

Kansas kicks off its football season on Sept. 2 and Kansas State on Sept. 3. Unlike some states — such as Massachusetts, which approved legalized sports betting this month — Kansas does not contain any provisions in its legislation against wagering on in-state college sports.

The state’s sports betting infrastructure — which will be overseen by the Kansas Lottery — was fast-tracked in order to get it up and running in time.

As such, the Kansas Lottery approved temporary rules and regulations earlier this month — but state Attorney General Derek Schmidt’s office “has identified significant legal issues” in the proposal.

The state doesn’t see that hampering the proposed timeline.

“Within days, we will be providing our formal feedback to Lottery and giving them the opportunity to correct the legal deficiencies,” Schmidt spokesperson John Milburn said. “We intend to approve these regulations as soon as the agency fixes the legal problems in their initial version.”