Kentucky has become the latest state to be added to the Continent 8 Technologies roadmap after the state voted in favor of passing sports betting legislation earlier in the year.
As it stands, the bill to legislate sports betting is awaiting signature from Governor Andy Beshear. However, Continent 8 has stated that it will deploy its “first-to-market approach” to support its partners in going live on day one of sports betting being legal.
Nick Nally, the firm’s Chief Revenue Officer, explained: “Our rapid launch into Kentucky is only possible because of the unrivaled knowledge and experience that Continent 8’s planning and delivery function has in implementing its solutions in the regulated US market. We work ahead of operator service requirements to be able to deliver fast to our customers.”
As a result of this new market entry, Continent 8 now provides its hosting, connectivity, cloud and security solutions to operators and suppliers in more than 25 states in the US.
The global network solutions provider has pinpointed Kentucky as being a state brimming with potential, with analysts predicting that the market could generate close to $23m in tax revenues each year.
On the day that the bill passed the Senate vote, Senate Majority Leader Sen. Damon Thayer suggested that these figures could be higher. He pointed out that neighboring Tennessee reached $68m in tax revenues in 2022 – however it was noted that the state achieved this with a 20% tax rate. This is somewhat higher than the 9.75% tax rate set for Kentucky.
Once the state opens the doors to legalized sports betting, Continent 8 will deploy its full suite of solutions to operators and suppliers, including supporting hybrid cloud deployments with hyperscale partners such as AWS, GCP and Azure. This, the company said, will be done via a “dedicated data center in the state”.
Dany Chapdelaine, Director of Planning and Delivery, added: “Our vast regulatory knowledge and experience, coupled with strong relationships with customers, suppliers and vendors has enabled us to deploy our services in Kentucky at a rapid pace. A huge well done to the team involved in this significant project.
“Our approach in North America has seen us become the trusted infrastructure partner of choice for the vast majority of operators and suppliers in the market, and adding Kentucky to our growing network is another major step forward for us and our customers.”
