Compact Permits Kansas Tribe to Offer Retail Sports Betting

• An amended Kansas gaming compact authorizes the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to offer retail sports betting.
• A final federal court decision in favor of Florida’s gaming compact with their native tribes would allow Kansas tribes to launch mobile sports betting in the future.
• For now, it’s just retail sports betting and is reported to launch in the fall of 2023.

TOPEKA, Kan. – The Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is permitted to offer legal sports betting at retail locations after an amendment was made to the Kansas gaming compact.

Overwhelming approval of the gaming compact changes authorized the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation to offer legal sports betting as stated in the amendment.

United States Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland chose to not take action on the gaming compact amendment, which by default approves the changes compliant with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. The approval allows the Prairie Band to open brick and mortar sportsbooks as soon as September.

Governor Laura Kelly signed Senate Bill 84 on May 13, 2022, regulating legal retail and online sports betting in the Sunflower State. Over a year later, Prairie Brand will get to participate in legal Kansas sports betting, competing against massive operators such as FanDuel and DraftKings.

The Kansas gaming compact with the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation opens the door for mobile sports betting, in addition to the already approved retail sports betting.

The outcome of the overturned Florida ban against a tribal gaming compact between the state of Florida and the Seminole Tribe would have massive implications for tribal mobile sports betting in Kansas and across the country.

Florida Tribal Gaming Compact Influence

The Topeka-Capital Journal claims that “The amended compact for the Prairie Band Potawatomi says that if federal law is interpreted to allow an arrangement similar to what is proposed in Florida, than the tribe also would be able to conduct sports betting statewide. This wouldn’t erase the sports betting offerings currently in operation through the four state-owned casinos but would increase competition…”

Adding mobile sports betting to the tribe’s catalog would likely incentivize the other three federally recognized Kansas tribes to join the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation’s with sports betting.

News tags: Florida | Kansas | Laura Kelly | Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation | SB 84