The American state of Kansas yesterday legalised sports betting, and according to reports, this move was quickly resisted by the owner of a commercial casino in Sumner County, who filed a new lawsuit.

The Kansas Governor Laura Kelly signed legislation on Thursday that would let residents of "The Sunflower State" who are over 21 to make a variety of sports bets using a computer or mobile device, according to a report from the Associated Press news service. According to this law, local governments will also be able to licence retail sportsbooks at the four commercial casinos in the Midwest area as well as up to 50 additional smaller locations.

Additional action:

The new measure also includes wording that will allow the long-closed Wichita Greyhound Park in Sedgwick County to reopen with a choice of up to 1,000 vintage racing games, but this is not yet finalised. According to the news organisation, these gadgets frequently mimic classic slot machines and let gamblers place bets using replays of previous horseracing events.

profitable legal action

Boyd Gaming Corporation allegedly filed a lawsuit in Shawnee County District Court alleging breach of contract and requesting the measure's revocation or the payment of a $25 million fee with interest and related costs in response to this last element of the new law. Since the Kansas Star Casino opened about eleven years ago, the operator with headquarters in Las Vegas has been in charge of it. It is rumoured that the operator is arguing that the Kansas Lottery is prohibited from permitting competition from comparable facilities in the Wichita region until 2026 by a clause in its contract with the state.

Dispute over a contraption:

Boyd Gaming Corporation is apparently prepared to claim that the similarity of the upcoming historical racing games to the slots it now offers in Kansas constitutes a breach of contract. The Wichita Greyhound Park, which closed in 2007, is situated around 27 miles north of the Kansas Star Casino. According to the complaint filed by the company against the state, the Kansas Lottery, and the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission regulator, these former units shouldn't be allowed because the two types of devices are almost "indistinguishable."

read a statement allegedly from Boyd Gaming Corporation...

"Boyd Gaming Corporation has lived up to its obligations, successfully operated the Kansas Star Casino, and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in the Kansas Star Casino based on the state's contractual promise."

Uncertain affair

The complaint apparently stems from a disagreement about whether the vintage racing games resemble slots, according to Kansas State Representative John Barker, who worked on the final draught of the sportsbetting legalisation legislation. The Abilene Republican also supposedly mentioned that the Kansas Supreme Court's decision on Boyd Gaming Corporation's case will determine the final answer to this puzzling query.

Barker allegedly said...

"Since it's a separate section of that bill, I suppose sports betting could move forward."