Tipico Sportsbook does not plan to launch in Kentucky when the industry goes live this September.
That’s according to Brian Becker, Tipico’s vice president of marketing, who shared the update with PlayKentucky on Monday.
“No near-term plans to open a KY sports betting site for us,” he wrote in an email.
Tipico could have been intriguing in Kentucky
Tipico would have been an interesting case study for brand recognition in Kentucky. Although it owns a minuscule chunk of the US sports betting market, Tipico was the fourth-most recognized brand among potential Kentucky sportsbooks in an exclusive PlayKentucky survey from June.
In the survey, 38% of Kentuckians recognized the Tipico brand. That was more than BetMGM, BetRivers, Bet365 and Barstool Sportsbook, and less than only DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars Sportsbook. Perhaps that result was due to Tipico’s prior partnership with Gannett, the country’s largest organization of newspapers — including the Courier-Journal in Louisville.
Adding to the Tipico Kentucky intrigue was a page on the sportsbook’s website dedicated to the upcoming Kentucky launch.
“Tipico Sportsbook is working hard to open our online sports betting platform across the U.S., and the state of Kentucky is on our list!” the website page reads. “Enter your e-mail to be notified when Tipico’s mobile Sportsbook app will be live in KY. From Louisville to Lexington and beyond, we expect sports betting to soon be LEGAL in Kentucky, and Tipico is excited to soon be in your state to get started!”
PlayKentucky specifically referenced this page in its email to Becker. However, the answer was still “no short-term plans.”
A German company founded in 2004, Tipico has launched in four states — Iowa, Colorado, New Jersey and Ohio — since beginning its US expansion in 2020. Its most recent launch came in Ohio in January.
Other small sportsbooks’ plans
Tipico is the second small sportsbook to tell PlayKentucky it won’t be in Kentucky at launch. Betfred informed us it’s “unlikely” to be live in Kentucky at launch earlier this month.
Circa Sportsbook, meanwhile, has twice told PlayKentucky it’s “exploring every opportunity” when asked about Kentucky plans.
