Our shared goal among Butler, Bally’s, and DraftKings is to create a seamless, safe, and premium sports betting experience.
Four days after Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signed a bill authorizing mobile sports betting, one of the state’s four commercial casinos wasted no time in finding an operator to partner with.
Two, actually.
Butler National Corporation, which owns and operates the Boot Hill Casino & Resort in Dodge City, announced Monday that it had entered into agreements with Bally’s and DraftKings for operating online and retail sportsbooks.
Chris Reedy, Executive Vice President for Butler National, told US Gaming Review that details surrounding which operator will run the single retail sportsbook at the casino “are still under development.”
When asked why Butler National chose Bally’s and DraftKings, Reedy said both operators “provide best-in-class sports betting experience in the industry and are well-equipped and highly experienced.
“Our shared goal among Butler, Bally’s, and DraftKings is to create a seamless, safe, and premium sports betting experience. We’re excited to work with them.”
The state’s new gaming regimen will allow all 11 land-based casinos to have up to three skins for online gaming — which means Butler National could still add a third operator. Kansas has four commercial and seven tribal casinos.
“We are currently exploring our opportunities to identify a third partner that will share our vision of bringing best-in-class sports betting to Kansans,” Reedy said.
- Rewarding ongoing promos
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Clock Ticking for Launch Before NFL Season Starts
Butler National said it hopes to offer sports betting in time for the NFL season, which kicks off on September 8. Regulators have until January 1, 2023, to adopt rules governing sports betting. The gaming law signed by Kelly on May 12 takes effect on July 1.
“We are hopeful to try to bring mobile sports betting to Kansans by football season,” Butler National CEO Clark Stewart said in a statement.
An official with the Kansas Lottery Commission (KLC) told US Gaming Review that the agency received a copy of the sports betting bill passed by lawmakers just days before Kelly signed it, and expressed skepticism that Kansans would be able to bet on NFL football at the start of the season.
The KLC will regulate sports betting in the state and promulgate rules for the enterprise. A tax rate of 10% will be levied on gross revenue.
Other Operators That Could Possibly Launch in Kansas
While Bally’s and DraftKings are the first operators to officially jump into the Sunflower State, they won’t be the last. Some partnerships with two of the four commercial casinos are already seen as likely.
Penn National Gaming (PNG) owns and operates the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway, a facility located in Kansas City. It also owns Barstool Sportsbook and theScore Bet, two brands that it could potentially bring to Kansas. The company also listed Kansas as an anticipated launch for 2022 in its investor presentation for Q1 2022, which was released on May 5.
| Commercial Casino | Possible Sportsbooks (3 max) |
|---|---|
| Boot Hill Casino & Resort | Bally’s (†), DraftKings (†) |
| Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway | Barstool, theScore Bet |
| Kansas Crossing Casino & Hotel | BetMGM, Betway |
| Kansas Star Casino | BetMGM, Betway, FanDuel, Unibet |
(†) partnership announced
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Meanwhile, Boyd Gaming owns and operates the Kansas Star Casino in Mulvane. Boyd has been a strategic partner for online casino gaming and sports betting with FanDuel since August 2018.
Last March, Boyd entered into an agreement to purchase Pala Interactive for $170 million. Pala is active with B2B in eight US states and in Canada and operates B2C in New Jersey and B2B2C in Canada. Pala’s B2B includes an agreement with Kambi to power Kindred Group’s Unibet-branded sportsbooks in Indiana, Iowa, Pennsylvania, and Virginia — so, it’s possible that Boyd could pick Unibet as a sportsbook partner.
Boyd acquired the Kansas Star Casino and four casinos in other states, two each in Iowa and Louisiana when it purchased Peninsula Gaming in 2012. The two Iowa casinos — Diamond Jo Casino in Dubuque and Diamond Jo Worth Casino in Northwood — both have retail sportsbooks operated by FanDuel.
Betway and FanDuel each operate online sportsbooks through the Diamond Jo Casino, while BetMGM Sportsbook operates the only online sportsbook through Diamond Jo Worth. BetMGM is also Boyd’s online sportsbook partner in Louisiana.
A presentation released last week as part of BetMGM’s Investor Day shows Kansas as a state where it has a market access agreement. A spokesman for BetMGM did not return a call seeking clarification over the market access agreement, but it is likely through a partnership with a Kansas casino.
In a twist, the executives formerly in charge of Peninsula Gaming — Jonathan Swain, Natalie Schramm, and Brent Stevens — went on to form JNB Gaming, which derives its name from the first name of each executive. JNB owns Kansas Crossing Casino & Hotel in Pittsburg, the fourth commercial casino in the state.
Swain did not return a call seeking comment over how many potential sportsbook operators it was courting.
While JNB’s ownership of the aforementioned Iowa casinos predates the Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling that the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) was unconstitutional — a watershed moment that led to the proliferation of legal sports betting across the US — JNB is likely familiar on some level with the operations of its former properties.
If JNB is impressed with their former properties’ online and retail sportsbooks, they could potentially approach BetMGM, Betway, or both.
