A Look At Some Of Kansas’ Biggest Industries

Sports Betting Industry Has Quickly Made Its Mark In Kansas

Kansas officially launched sports betting back in September, and it didn’t take long to emerge as one of the state’s top industries.

Sports betting has really taken off across the country ever since the Supreme Court of the United States overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) in May 2018. To date, more than 30 U.S. states have since launched a form of online sports betting.

Those who live in or are visiting Kansas can take advantage of the special offers that many of the state’s top sportsbooks are offering. For example,  PointsBet Kansas is one of the fastest-growing online sportsbooks in the U.S., and they’re offering new customers five “second chance” bets worth $50 each ($250 total).

Last month, the Kansas Lottery announced that the state’s sportsbooks took in just over $206 million in wagers. The Kansas City Chiefs’ run to Super Bowl 57 — where they went on to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 — obviously played a huge role in the state’s successful month.

The state of Kansas doesn’t have any professional sports teams in the “big four” leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB or NHL). But residents of Kansas still have the option to place wagers on the Chiefs, the Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball and the NHL’s St. Louis Blues.

The Kansas Jayhawks’ men’s basketball team and the Kansas State Wildcats’ football club are also highly popular teams for gamblers in The Sunflower state to place wagers on.

With the Royals and Cardinals about to kick off their 2023 seasons, the state of Kansas can expect another notable surge in sports betting.

Agriculture

They don’t call it “The Wheat State” or “The Sunflower State” for nothing.

Frank Baum’s classic novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, was set on a farm in the state of Kansas. If you’ve read the novel and/or have seen the 1939 live-action adaptation of it (The Wizard of Oz), you probably noticed how much the farming/agriculture industry was used and referenced.

The novel and film are both based in the state of Kansas. Dorothy Gale lives on a farm in the state with her beloved Uncle Henry and Auntie Em. Scarecrows, of course, are widely used across farming and agriculture. And in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, Dorothy befriends a real-life scarecrow!

According to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Kansas led all U.S. states in 2021 with the largest area for wheat planting at 7.3 million acres. North Dakota was a distant second on that list with 6.5 million acres.

The state of Kansas produces hundreds of billions of corn bushels annually, including 766.5 billion in 2020, according to the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

From wheat to corn to soybeans to beans, the state of Kansas has always been a focal point in America’s farming and agricultural industry. The National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs would be the perfect place to check out during your visit to Kansas if you wish to learn more about the state’s booming industry.

Aircrafts 

Kansas has been one of America’s leading states in the aircrafts and aerospace industry for decades now.

There’s a reason the city of Wichita is nicknamed “The Air Capital of the World.” Several of the nation’s biggest aviation brands were founded and/or are headquartered in the city. Beechcraft  was founded here in Wichita in 1932 by Walter Beech, Olive Ann Beech and Ted A. Wells.

Cessna, founded back in 1927, is headquartered in “The Air Capital of the World” by Kansas farmer Clyde Cessna and entrepreneur Victor Roos. Cessna is now part of Textron Aviation, which is also located in Wichita.

Spirit AeroSystems, a global leader in aerostructures developments, was founded 18 years ago and is also headquartered in Wichita. Spirit Aerosystems builds structures for military defense as well as aerospace.

Bombardier Aviation, part of the Bombardier Inc. jet manufacturing company, is headquartered in Dorval in the Canadian province of Quebec. Bombardier Aviation does flight testing and plenty of aircraft services here in Wichita.

There are several museums throughout The Wheat State which offer visitors a detailed experience of Kansas’ rich aircraft/aviation industry. This includes the Kansas Aviation Museum in Wichita, the Combat Air Museum in Shawnee County as well as the National Airline History Museum at the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport in Kansas City.