The 2022-23 fiscal year might not have been a record one for gambling in Kansas but it marked a step in the right direction. While the improvement from the previous 12-month period wasn’t significant, a minimal gain is still preferable to any decline.
Kansas’ four casinos compiled over $407.1 million in gaming revenues from July 2022 through June 2023, benefitting from a strong final month of that term. June was arguably the weakest month for licensed sportsbooks in the state to date, though.
With that in mind, legal sports betting in Kansas still helped the state rake in $103.4 million in assessments on gambling during FY22-23.
June gambling in Kansas closes out a positive fiscal year
After the May revenue numbers became official, there was a slight chance for Kansas casinos to post their strongest fiscal year ever. However, to do that, they would need their best month of June on record.
The latest reports from the Kansas Lottery show that did not occur. Kansas’ four casinos won about $32.1 million from players during the month, around $4.1 million short of what they needed to put FY22-23 over the top as the most lucrative fiscal year in state history.
Regardless, the $32.1 million in revenue makes for a 6.15% improvement over June 2022. It also was enough to put FY22-23’s total slightly ahead of FY21-22 by around $6.2 million or 1.5%. The total of $407.1 million was just about $3.9 million or a percentage point off the record of $411 million set in FY18-19.
From that perspective, the state’s casinos could set a new record in the fiscal year that just began if they can replicate the growth they just achieved. There’s no guarantee they will do so, however. Two of the four properties (Boot Hill Casino and Kansas Star Casino) posted slight declines compared to their FY21-22 numbers.
Even if revenue from poker, slots, and table games at Kansas’ casinos doesn’t post marginal growth again in the current term, the bottom line for Kansas should still improve. That’s due to the addition of a full fiscal year of legal sports betting in the state.
Kansas sports betting finishes first partial fiscal year
Kansas collected over $103 million from licensed gaming activities during FY22-23 partially due to assessments on legal sports betting. June represented a small portion of that activity for the past fiscal year, though.
Bettors gambled less than $100 million in the state during a month for the first time in June. The June revenue report according to the Kansas Lottery:
- $98.1 million in bets
- $89.9 million in win for bettors
- $4 million in taxable revenues
- $409,425 for the state coffers
Those numbers helped the state set a starting point for its legal sports betting industry to measure all future terms. The graphic below represents the cumulative numbers for the entire fiscal year that ended in June.
Part of the future evaluation of these numbers could be how Kansas taxes legal sports betting. The state’s allowable deductions for licensees are among the most generous in the nation. Currently, there is no clamor in Topeka to change that but June presents an example of the potential revenue Kansas currently forfeits.
Gross revenue (the amount of money wagered minus the amount of money paid out to bettors) for the month came to around $8.2 million. If Kansas eradicated the allowable deductions but did not change the tax rate, it would have collected over twice the amount that it actually did.
A complete reversal of the deductions allowance may not be something legislators in the state are ready to take on right away. However, Kansans shouldn’t be surprised if a partial reduction to those allowances eventually becomes a topic of debate.
The current fiscal year could contribute more money to the state than FY22-23. Whether FY23-24 will succeed where FY22-23 narrowly failed, breaking records, is something Kansans will have to watch.