Kentucky Sen. Damon Thayer, who was instrumental in getting sports betting legalized in Kentucky this year, took a shot at Ohio on Wednesday during a presentation to the Kentucky Interim Joint Committee Appropriations and Revenue.
Specifically, regarding if there will be enough KY sports betting compliance staff to avoid some of the issues seen in Ohio since it launched sports betting in January, Thayer said this:
“We’re going to do things better than Ohio. We usually do. So I have no doubt in this case that’s going to happen.”
Recent issues in Ohio
Ohio faced gambling regulation issues just days after launching its industry.
It fined FanDuel, DraftKings and Caesars $150,000 each for repeated violations of regulations regarding sports betting advertisements. Ohio commissioners told sportsbooks they were “deeply disappointed with the very rocky start” to the launch.
More recently, two members of the University of Cincinnati baseball team staff were fired and its head coach resigned after the program was embroiled in the college sports betting scandal related to college baseball games played at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati.
Did an Ohio official throw shade at Kentucky first?
Thayer wasn’t the first Kentucky or Ohio official to throw shade at the other regarding sports betting.
In June, Ohio Casino Control Commission Executive Director Matt Schuler publicly lamented the fact that 18-year-olds in Ohio could soon cross the border into Kentucky to place legal sports bets.
“I absolutely hate the idea that individuals under 21 can go across the border, open an account and bet,” Schuler told local media in Cincinnati. “I think it’s horrible.
“The age group this is most at risk of developing a gambling problem are males 18 to 35. The younger ones are most vulnerable as they’re not at the age yet where they can thoroughly process the consequences of their actions. Not my opinion. Scientific fact.”
In a recent PlayKentucky survey, 71% of Kentuckian respondents said they preferred the state’s legal sports betting age to be 21, not 18. Kentucky will be the largest 18-and-over sports betting jurisdiction in the US when it launches this September.
