The experts at BetKansas.com have assembled this guide to explain what we mean when we talk about Kansas sports betting revenue and sportsbook handle that the state reports each month.
There is an active market with many online or mobile operators as well as a growing number of retail sports wagering options at brick-and-mortar casinos in the Sunflower State.
When reports refer to handle, that means the total money wagered each month on sports in the state. In Kansas, hundreds of millions of dollars monthly are bet on sporting events. From the time legal sports betting launched in September 2022 in Kansas, legal, regulated sports bets were placed with both online sportsbooks as well as in person at one of four physical casinos.
The vast majority of sports wagers are placed online by customers using Kansas sportsbook apps.
The Kansas online gambling revenue on sports refers to the amount that operators have left after they pay out winning bets. From there, bookmakers pay 10% tax to the state on the adjusted gross revenue.
| Total handle | Mobile Handle | Revenue (GGR) |
January | $301.838M | $293.211M | $16.158 |
December | $261.280M | $252.842M | $8.786M |
Change | Up 15.5% | Up 16.0% | Up 84.1% |
Kansas sports bettors once again enjoyed a strong month making selections, as the state’s sportsbooks reported a handle of $301,837,633 in January but only generated $16,158,362 in revenue, according to figures that the Kansas Lottery posted on Feb. 13.
The January handle was up 15.5% from December’s $261,279,554. Mobile wagering accounted for $293,210,681 of the bets in January, a 16% increase compared to the $252,841,702 bet through the licensed Kanas sports betting apps in December.
Thanks in large part to the Kansas City Chiefs winning for most of January, Kansas sportsbooks continued seeing a trend of hold rates below the national average. Still, their January winnings represented an 84.1% improvement upon their December collective tally of $8,786,090. As with handle, nearly all the revenue came from mobile wagering, and the $16,029,976 in online revenue was 84% better than the $8,711,052 they reported in December.
State tax receipts from operator winnings nearly mirrored the sportsbooks’ performance. In all, Kansas collected $1,615,836 in overall tax revenue for January, and that was an 83.9% jump from the $878,609 the state received in December. Taxes from mobile revenues were also up 84% from $871,105 in December to $1,602,998 in January.
DraftKings retained its position as the top Kansas sports betting app with a handle of $123,434,945 for the first month of 2025. FanDuel reported $96,534,088 and was followed by BetMGM’s $25,617,917, Fanatics’ $20,614,517, Caesars’ $13,558,722 and ESPN BET’s $13,450,492.
In 2024, Kansas sportsbooks took in $2,546,011,854, up 20% from 2023's total of $2,121,564,412. The first full year of mobile wagering in the state was 2023. In 2022, the total handle was $718,777,213 for the first four months of operation in the state after Kansas launched on Sept. 1.
The Kansas Lottery has released monthly wagering reports on the same day that the agency’s commission meets each month. That's usually within two weeks of the previous month ending.
Kansas tax revenue from sports betting largely goes towards a fund to attract major league sports teams, including the Kansas City Chiefs to come to the state. The remainder goes toward the state’s general fund, benefiting anything from public education to infrastructure projects.
Mobile sports betting handle refers to the amount of money wagered on mobile or online apps, using phones, laptops or other online devices. Customers can often take advantage of Kansas sports betting promo codes when using these online operators. In Kansas, sports betting is done either at a retail location (at one of the four state-owned casinos) or on one of the six licensed online sportsbooks in the state (Barstool Sportsbook, BetMGM Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings Sportsbook, FanDuel Sportsbook and ESPN BET Kansas).
Handle is the terms used to refer to the amount of money wagered in a month. If a handle is reported as $350 million, that means that the operators in the state combined to accept that much money from people betting on sports. Revenue refers to what’s left over after winning bets are paid out; Kansas gaming revenue on sports is taxed based on the amount of adjusted gross revenue each month. In 2024, Kansas sportsbooks accounted for more than $127 million in revenue from sports betting.
Author
The experts at BetKansas who bring you the latest updates in Kansas sports betting. We pull together decades of experience to give you analysis as well as comparisons of the best Kansas online gambling apps.
Cited by leading media organizations, such as: