- PointsBet has announced that they’ll be launching in Kansas in partnership with Kansas Crossing Casino & Hotel.
- PointsBet will ‘soft launch’ on September 1 and have an official launch on September 8.
- Kansas is the 11th market for PointsBet joining New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Kansas sports betting will go ‘live’ in early September and the first sportsbooks that will serve the state are starting to come together. The Kansas Star Casino Hotel in Mulvane is owned by Boyd Gaming and is already promoting a forthcoming FanDuel retail sportsbook. Presumably, FanDuel will also be providing mobile/online betting in the state. The biggest casino in the state is the Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway owned by Penn Entertainment (recently rebranded from Penn National). They’ll be opening a Barstool Sportsbook retail location as well as a mobile presence. Golden Nugget Online will launch in partnership with Boot Hill Casino & Resort in Dodge City (no word on their retail sportsbook plans). Boot Hill has previously announced partnerships with Bally’s and DraftKings–if I had to guess I’d say that you’ll see DraftKings running the retail sportsbook at the property. There are currently nine casinos in Kansas and since they can partner with multiple ‘skins’ there will be more sportsbook announcements forthcoming.
The Kansas sports betting ecosystem got a nice boost today with the announcement that PointsBet is heading to the state for mobile/online betting and most likely a retail sportsbook. The PointsBet press release is unclear about retail betting and the Kansas Star Casino offers no information. Here’s the announcement from the press release which mentions ‘retail betting’ but doesn’t explicitly say PointsBet will be opening a retail casino at the property:
PointsBet Holdings Limited (ASX:PBH; OTCQX:PBTHF) (the “Company” or “PointsBet”) today announced that the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission has awarded its wholly-owned subsidiary PointsBet Kansas, LLC provisional certification which, subject to receipt of final launch authorisation, will allow PointsBet to launch sportsbook operations in Kansas on September 1, 2022.
In May 2022, Kansas Gov. Kelly signed sports betting legislation into law, with both online and retail betting in the State authorised to begin with a soft launch on 1 September 2022, and an official launch on 8 September, in line with the first NFL Week 1 game.
PointsBet secured market access in Kansas via a ‘primary skin’ agreement with Kansas Crossing Casino, L.C.. Kansas Crossing operates the Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel, located in the heart of the four-state area, just a short distance from the border of Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arkansas.
PointsBet Group CEO and Managing Director Sam Swanell didn’t offer any clarification either:
“We are excited to be launching on the starting line and having our outstanding sportsbook product available to the people of Kansas from day one. With NFL season kicking off on September 9 the timing is perfect to showcase our NFL in-play betting capabilities in particular.”
BIG NEWS! @PointsBetUSA is coming to Kansas Crossing Casino! Pre-Register now, and as soon as PointsBet launches in Kansas you can cash in on this exclusive offer! #KansasCrossing
— Kansas Crossing Casino + Hotel (@KansasCrossing) August 20, 2022
Pre-register here: https://t.co/jYDcs5FKsR pic.twitter.com/loEb2pcNd0
The verbiage of this Tweet ‘PointsBet is coming to Kansas Crossing Casino’ makes it sound like a retail sportsbook is forthcoming. I looked at the PointsBet USA Twitter feed but it’s mostly dumb sports memes. I like PointsBet a lot, but it would be great if they didn’t try to copy every other hack sports website’s dubious social media strategy.
When PointsBet announced the market access deal with Kansas Crossing in early 2020 they focused primarily on a retail sportsbook at the property:
PointsBet, a premier global sportsbook operator, announced today that it has entered an exclusive primary skin agreement with Kansas Crossing Casino, L.C. (“Kansas Crossing”). The agreement will allow PointsBet to provide retail and online sports wagering in the state of Kansas, contingent upon obtaining the necessary regulatory licenses.
Kansas Crossing operates the Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel, located in the heart of the “Four States” area in southeast Kansas, just a short distance from the respective boarders of Oklahoma, Missouri and Arkansas. PointsBet and Kansas Crossing will work in tandem to build out a multi-faceted sports entertainment venue, which will include a sports bar, multi-screen video and odds display wall, additional casino gaming options and on-site viewing parties for major sporting events, providing the state with a premium sportsbook option in addition to PointsBet’s best-in-class online wagering product.
Doug Fisher, Vice President and General Manager of Kansas Crossing Casino and Hotel, also focused on his property’s future retail sportsbook:
“Kansas Crossing is excited to join forces with PointsBet to develop a world-class retail sportsbook at the Casino and launch online sports wagering in Kansas. We are certainly aligned in our efforts to provide the great citizens of the Sunflower State with the premium product they deserve, and we look forward to doing so with the PointsBet team.”
Upon launch, Kansas will represent PointsBet’s 11th online sportsbook operation in the United States, following successful launches in New Jersey, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, West Virginia, Virginia, New York, and Pennsylvania.
