Kansas Sports Betting Bill to Implement Integrity Fee

After the US Supreme Court made the decision to remove the sports betting ban in May of 2018, many states legalized this type of wagering…

…and now Kansas wants to follow in their footsteps, but with a certain twist in their version of the bill.

Legislation Process

More and more states are ing the new law by introducing their bills and legalizing sports betting under their jurisdiction. Going through this process is also something Kansas congressmen had in mind since before Christmas, but haven’t put in the works until now.

Lawmakers from this Midwestern US state want to incorporate not only legal sports betting…

…but also an integrity fee that would have to be paid to the operators of the league.

What Does that Mean?

There are many proposals in the Kansas Senate Bill No.23, also known as the Kansas Wagering Act.

First of all, Kansas lawmakers want to offer the opportunity to participate not only in in-person sports betting…

…but in online betting and betting via mobile phones as well.

If the bill gets the necessary approval, all wagers that wish to bet in person would have to do that in special facilities operated by the Kansas Lottery.

Also, all other facilities and racetracks that have agreements with the lottery would have the permission to offer sports betting under their roof.

Other Proposals

The proposals also suggest the lottery should put up particular websites and develop mobile apps…

…that the wagers would use for sports betting.

In the bill, it is also mentioned that the lottery should set up a special interactive sports betting platform that would make betting much easier to all Kansas s.

The Provision

The bill also suggests an introduction of a particular type of provision that all licensed sports betting operators should pay for holding the “sports betting right…”

…as well as the “integrity fee” to each legal body that has the authority over sports events that are bet on.

The sports betting operators that manage to obtain the necessary permits and get their license, would have the obligation to pay those fees quarterly. The fees would be equal to 0.25% of the accumulated total amount wagered on sports events…

…but it should not exceed 5% of the cumulative gross revenue on wagers in each quarter.

First in the Country

Should the Kansas bill , this state would become the first in the US to incorporate payment of the fees as the part of their sports betting law.

Some of the states that have already fully legalized sports betting have decided not to make such a decision, like Washington DC for example. Initially, they have included something similar to this kind of royalty fee…

…but have later removed it before finally turning in the bill for the approval.

Other Parts of the Bill

Everything else mentioned in the bill is pretty similar to what other states did, like the requirement that all wagers should be located in the state if they wish to place their sports bet…

…or the demand that all wagers should be 21 or over in order to participate in sports betting.

Also, the state would issue a toll-free phone number that would be accessible to all potential individuals that would like to get some advice or help regarding a gambling problem.

Source:

“Kansas to consider integrity fee in new sports betting bill”, igamingbusiness.com, January 22, 2019.