Kansas has legalized sports betting. The new law will allow people in the state to use cellphone or computer apps to bet on sporting events and to place bets at state-owned casinos, or up to 50 other locations, chosen by each casino; Gambling will be legal beginning July 1. The measure dedicates most of the state’s share of revenues to efforts to lure the Kansas City Chiefs from Missouri to Kansas. Supporters of the law say it was time to legalize sports betting, because people were already doing it. They also say it will help raise tax revenue. The state estimates legal sports betting will bring in up to $10 million a year by 2025. Kansas joins dozens of other states that have made sports gambling legal in recent years.
The state was sued almost immediately by a state-owned casino operator, over an unrelated part of the law, designed to revive a long-closed greyhound track in its area. The lawsuit is from the Kansas Star Casino operated by Boyd Gaming, located south of Wichita. The casino has a contract with the Lottery and says that contract has been breached because the new law allows improper competition from new gambling devices at Wichita Greyhound Park
