This summer, Kentucky sports betting officials made a controversial decision to make the legal sports betting age 18 years old. It's one of just a few states to not use 21 as the minimum age for online betting, and the most populated online betting state with this rule.
Still, many operators decided to prevent anyone 18-20 years old from betting, and keep the 21+ rule in place. Just bet365 and DraftKings will allow 18-year-olds to wager when Kentucky goes live on Sept. 28. And though it won't launch in Kentucky until later this year, Circa Sportsbook says it will be 18+ as well.
Here's a full breakdown by book:
- bet365: 18+
- DraftKings: 18+
- BetMGM: 21+
- FanDuel: 21+
- Caesars: 21+
- Fanatics: 21+
- Barstool (soon to be ESPN Bet): 21+
- Circa: 18+ (not launching til later this year)
Six U.S. states and jurisdictions set 18 as the betting age — Montana, New Hampshire, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, Washington D.C., and Washington state, though Montana and Washington don't have online betting, only in-person.
Some operators told SportsHandle that it was too difficult to change the age in one state while keeping it 21 in another:
"Otherwise, operators would have to tinker with their tech stack, particularly the know-your-customer (KYC) section, to manage a single jurisdiction with a different age minimum, geolocation services would have to put controls in place to ensure that an 18-year-old who can bet in Kentucky can’t in any of its six legal wagering border states, and staff would have to be educated and aware of the age difference."
DraftKings has a monopoly in New Hampshire and has been able to offer 18+ there for the past several years. Neighboring Massachusetts has some of the most restrictive sports betting rules in the country, and DK must ensure its geo-location works flawlessly when younger users are traveling between states.
The same principles will apply for Kentucky bettors traveling to neighboring Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee or West Virginia, which are all 21-years-old states.