Governor Matt Bevin believes a new harness racing track in Oak Grove will be good for Kentucky and for the horse racing industry, but he would not support it becoming a facility where betting on other sports such as basketball and football would be allowed.
The Horse Racing Commission recently approved a license for the track slated to open next year near the intersection of Thompsonville Lane and Fort Campbell Boulevard and Bevin says the joint venture between Churchill Downs and Keeneland is good news.
He doesn’t believe racetracks or the commonwealth as a whole needs sports betting, asserting that Kentucky would only receive a fraction of the 15-to-20 million dollars in tax revenue that Nevada does annually at what he believes would be a greater social cost.
It will ultimately be up to the General Assembly as to whether they want sports betting in Kentucky after a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing it in all 50 states, but Bevin says they’ll have to do it without his help if they approve it.
Hear Governor Bevin discuss this and other topics including criminal justice reform, results of the recent election and recent state supreme court decisions on medical review panels and right to work this Sunday morning at 9 o’clock on Lite Rock 98.7 and online at lite987whop.com.
You can also listen now below:
https://soundcloud.com/user-350001776/matt-bevin-interview-11-20-2018