Kansas Sports Betting Tax Could Increase as States Continue to Seek Bigger Cuts
Posted on: September 30, 2025, 08:13h.
Last updated on: September 30, 2025, 09:20h.
- Kansas lawmakers are considering raising taxes on sportsbooks
- Kansas taxes gross sports betting revenue at 10%
- The 10% sportsbook tax is among the lowest in the nation
Kansas sports betting taxes are primed for an increase as state lawmakers in Topeka seek a larger portion of the expanded gambling revenue.
Kansas authorized in-person and mobile sports betting at its four commercial casinos in 2022.
The state’s sports betting law mandated that oddsmakers share 10% of their net proceeds, or the amount of money kept after paying out winning bets, with the state. Kansas’ commercial sportsbooks additionally pay the federal government a 0.25% excise tax on each bet.
The 2022 issuance of sports betting licenses came with five-year terms that are set to expire in August 2027. Earlier this year, lawmakers passed a moratorium on automatically renewing the sports betting contracts, citing higher tax considerations as the reason.
Spirited Debate
Last week, the Kansas Legislature held a public hearing on whether to raise the effective tax on sports betting revenue. State Rep. Francis Awerkamp (R-St. Mary’s) is among those who believe the liberalization of sports betting has primarily benefited the casinos and out-of-state sportsbook firms — not the people of Kansas.
“This has been an absolute failure,” Awerkamp said during the Federal and State Affairs Interim Committee gathering.
John Pappas, a lobbyist for the sports betting and online gaming industries, said Kansas’ sports betting market has been a “success story.” A reasonable tax rate has allowed sportsbooks to offer competitive odds and promotions to keep bettors playing with the state’s regulated, legal oddsmakers, instead of illegal, offshore sportsbooks or neighborhood bookies that provide no consumer protections.
I guess we represent different people,” Awerkamp responded. “You have your clients. I have the people of my district. The people of Kansas.”
Kansas’ 10% flat tax on sports betting revenue from retail and online operations is on the lower end of the tax scale among the 39 states and Washington, DC, that have legal sports gambling. The lowest is in Nevada at 6.75%. The highest is 51% in New York, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
In 2024, Kansas sports betting revenue totaled $216.7 million, up almost 19% from the prior year. Mobile bets accounted for almost 99% of the action. The state’s share was less than $22 million.
Kansas taxes all other forms of commercial casino revenue at 27%. That delivered more than $100 million in state income. Kansas’ tribal casinos are exempt from state taxes.
Taxing Bettors Back Offshore
Kansas isn’t an outlier in mulling higher taxes on sportsbooks. Illinois has raised its effective tax on sports betting revenue twice over the past 12 months, including a per-bet fee of 20 cents that jumps to 50 cents once a licensee facilitates more than 20 million bets in a year.
New Jersey raised its online sports betting tax this year from 15% to 19.75%. The state taxed sportsbooks at 13% when sports betting first began in 2018.
Louisiana raised its sports betting tax from 5% to 21.5% this year.
Consumer interest groups worry that the ongoing state tax hikes will push bettors back offshore and to local bookies. Higher taxes are often passed on to the consumer in the form of tighter odds or fewer promotions and incentives to retain their business.
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