Hopkinsville leads the list of five Kentucky cities most interested in sports betting, according to Google Trends data.
With the state’s sports betting bill signed and sportsbooks set to go live by December at the latest, we at PlayKentucky figured it was a good time to see which parts of Kentucky are most excited about the imminent launch. Or, at least the most interested.
A great way to do that? Analyze Google searches.
Over the past 90 days, these five Kentucky cities have the highest proportion of “sports betting” Google searches to population. (Google measures this proportion on a scale of 0-100.)
- Hopkinsville, 100
- Lexington, 61
- Louisville, 53
- Bowling Green, 36
- Owensboro, 24
Louisville and Lexington are, by far, the two most-populated cities on this list. But remember: This is about the amount of “sports betting” Google searches compared to the city’s population. Think of it as a way to measure the average amount each city’s residents are interested in sports betting in Kentucky, if you will.
So … why these five?
Hopkinsville
A smaller city with just over 30,000 people, Hopkinsville doesn’t immediately pop out as a Kentucky town that would be flocking to Google to learn more about sports betting. In fact, it’s most famous for being the epicenter of the 2017 solar eclipse — it was nicknamed Eclipseville.
But when you consider is the state’s largest southernmost city, 30 minutes north of the Tennessee border, it makes more sense.
There may be more sports bettors among Hopkinsville’s 30,000-plus population that other towns, because they’ve been just a short drive away from a legal betting haven. It’s also a little more than an hour from Nashville, so perhaps you’re also getting interest from Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators fans who call Hopkinsville home.
It should be noted that some of this search traffic could be coming from Tennessee. Sometimes, Google’s geo-tracking isn’t exactly spot-on and southern Kentucky could blend into northern Tennessee.
Lexington
Lexington is home of the University of Kentucky and its rabid fans, and it’s the second-largest city in the state at about 320,000.
This just makes sense.
Although Big Blue Nation runs deep throughout Kentucky, the hottest hotbed of Wildcat fandom is Lexington. Data from GeoComply after the NCAA Tournament this year showed that 62,000 Kentuckians tried to place bets on March Madness using US sportsbook apps.
There’s a real chance KY sportsbooks are up and running by early November, when Kentucky men’s basketball begins its season.
So, yeah, Kentucky basketball betting will be rampant in Lexington.
Louisville
Louisville comes in third place in this Google analysis likely because it’s the largest city in Kentucky at about 622,000, so it would take tons more search volume to have the same high ratio as a Lexington or Hopkinsville.
Still, Louisville residents are clearly interested in sports betting and eager for Kentucky sportsbook sign-up bonuses to roll out.
In terms of sports teams, Louisville only has Louisville athletics — with men’s basketball and football leading the way.
But the city is just about 100 miles from Cincinnati, so it’s full of Bengals and Reds fans, too.
Bowling Green
With a population just over 75,000, Bowling Green is the third-largest city in Kentucky. And it’s just about the same distance from the Tennessee border as Hopkinsville, so we’re likely seeing Google searches from Nashville sports fans and folks who already head down to Tennessee to place legal online bets.
Bowling Green also has its own university, Western Kentucky, which plays in Conference USA and has enjoyed decent success in men’s basketball and football in recent years. Western Kentucky is the No. 1 employer in Bowling Green, and its roots in the city run deep.
Owensboro
Moving on down the list, Owensboro is Kentucky’s fourth-biggest city with a population of just under 60,000.
It sits right on the Indiana border, only 45 minutes from Evansville. When residents can literally hop in their cars and drive 5 minutes to a sports bar or, heck, even just a parking lot in Indiana, where online sports betting is legal, you’d better believe that city will be full of legal sports bettors ready for a BetMGM Kentucky or DraftKings Kentucky to launch.
