Kentucky’s Reed Sheppard Announces NIL Deal With Racehorse as Season Enters Home Stretch

Despite its affinity for sports, the state of Kentucky has no Big Four professional teams. The National League left Louisville in 1899, the NFL in 1926, the Negro Leagues in 1932, and the ABA in 1976—each pro sports league never to return.

Thus, when most American sports fans picture Kentucky, college basketball and horse racing are the two that jump immediately to mind—the images of raucous patrons downing mint juleps at Churchill Downs in May and Kentucky mowing down all comers in March.