Published on: April 14, 2026, 10:39 AM.
Updated on: April 14, 2026, 10:42 AM.
- The minimum age for sports betting in Kentucky remains 18 for now
- Governor Andy Beshear has vetoed the bill aimed at revamping sports betting regulations
- The Republican-controlled General Assembly may choose to override the governor’s decision
A significant bill passed by the Kentucky General Assembly that aimed to reform sports betting regulations has been vetoed.
On Monday, Governor Andy Beshear (D) rejected House Bill 904, also known as the Wagering Consumer Protection Act, which sought to increase the minimum sports betting age from 18 to 21. The legislation also proposed banning player propositions related to Kentucky colleges and permitting fixed-odds gambling in horse racing.
Beshear did not object to these aspects; however, his concerns were focused on a clause in HB904 that sought to afford the Kentucky Lottery Corporation and the Kentucky Horse Racing and Gaming Corporation “emergency or ordinary administrative” powers without prior consultation with the governor.
According to the Kentucky Constitution, the governor serves as the primary executive authority and is required to ensure that laws are faithfully enforced, including those executed by regulatory agencies. As part of this duty, the governor evaluates proposed emergency regulations for necessity and legal compliance,” Beshear stated in his veto message.
“Granting an agency the power to implement emergency regulations in this fashion would hinder the governor’s ability to fulfill constitutional responsibilities and enable entities to impose regulations on Kentuckians without executive oversight, including those affecting public safety,” Beshear added.
18+ Sports Betting Policy Stands
Unless overridden by the Republican-majority General Assembly, which possesses the necessary votes, the legal betting age in Kentucky will continue to be 18. Only five states and Washington, D.C. permit individuals aged 18 and above to wager on sports, including Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Wyoming.
Should the minimum betting age rise to 21, prediction markets still accessible in Kentucky would allow participants aged 18 and over to engage in trading on sports outcomes.
HB904 would have barred licensed sportsbooks in Kentucky from operating prediction markets within state lines, though they could still manage such platforms in other jurisdictions.
Kentucky legislators have shown reluctance to prohibit prediction markets altogether, as House Bill 757 proposed imposing a 14.25% tax on the transaction fees collected from these trading platforms.
Beshear vetoed certain aspects of HB757 but did not reject the proposed tax on prediction markets.
Kentucky Sports Betting Landscape
DraftKings and FanDuel currently dominate the online sports betting market in Kentucky. In the 2025 fiscal year, DraftKings recorded gross revenues of $115.3 million, while FanDuel retained $111.7 million of wagered amounts.
Overall, the total revenue from sportsbooks across the state reached $284.7 million, based on $2.72 billion in wagers, indicating that DraftKings and FanDuel maintain nearly an 80% share of the market.