Kentucky Discards NFL Lottery Game

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A Kentucky lottery betting game on professional football was discarded before it began when Gov. Wallace Wilkinson declared it “a bad idea” in the face of opposition from the horse racing industry.

The SuperSports game was scheduled to begin last week, but a flurry of court activity on a lawsuit filed by horse racing groups delayed its kickoff.

On Monday, the Kentucky Supreme Court lifted an injunction that delayed the game, which involves pari-mutuel betting on National Football League games.

Several hours later, Wilkinson announced he wanted the game discarded.

“The lottery, I think, is being harmed by the controversy surrounding the SuperSports game,” Wilkinson told reporters. “The fun of the on-line (lottery) game has all been lost in the media attention given the SuperSports game.”

Kentucky voters approved a state lottery earlier this year in a referendum. Oregon was the first state to introduce a lottery game based on NFL betting, but no court action was filed there and the game is under way.

Kentucky Lottery Corp. President Frank Keener and board Chairman William Sullivan said in a joint statement that they disagree with Wilkinson’s decision but would comply and discard the game.

The Kentucky Thoroughbred Assn., Kentucky Harness Horsemen’s Assn. and the Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Assn. contended that the NFL game would steal patrons from Kentucky race tracks, the only places where pari-mutuel betting is legal in the state.

The horse racing industry groups also said pari-mutuel betting on NFL games was not envisioned by voters who approved the state lottery, or by the Legislature, which approved legislation to set up the lottery.

“Listening to people across this commonwealth, I think they are telling me this is a bad idea,” said Wilkinson, who previously had told lottery officials he would support the SuperSports game.