Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters
Missouri voters authorized legal mobile and retail sports betting, allowing regulated books to take bets next year.
The sports betting wagering tally measure gone by a slim majority early Wednesday morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the 8 states bordering Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city areas with Missouri, respectively.
Missouri is the 39th state to authorize legal sportsbooks and the 31st to green light statewide mobile wagering. It is the only state to authorize sports betting wagering this year.
" Missouri has a few of the very best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared huge for their favorite teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's expert sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax revenue to our neighboring states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 indicates a brand-new, dedicated, permanent financing stream for Missouri classrooms."
Missouri sports betting wagering next steps
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Voter approval implies as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks might start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 available licenses are used.
DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" project and will certainly use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses available without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying charge).
Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally step, will likely use its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely launch their respective books.
The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains unclear if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.
The staying 6 licenses are scheduled for each of the significant professional sports betting teams that play home games in Missouri: MLB's Kansas City Royals and Cardinals, the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, NHL's St. Louis Blues, MLS' St. Louis City SC and the NWSL's Kansas City Current. The sports betting companies were among the most prominent supporters of the tally measure.
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In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers need to expect other prominent national brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market gain access to.
Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri voters authorize sports betting:
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Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Very most likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Reside In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Acid Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars
Missouri's tally measure allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 casinos handled by the six casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as wagering kiosks and potentially committed, full-service sportsbooks.
The six sports betting teams can also open within or surrounding to their respective home playing locations. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that enable in-stadium retail sportsbooks.
The language around the ballot procedure needs the first certified sportsbooks to begin accepting wagers by Dec. 1, 2025. Operators will likely deal with regulators to go live before kick-off of the fall 2025 football season, perennially books' most rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
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Missouri sports betting wagering background
The successful Missouri sports betting wagering campaign comes in spite of millions in financing opposing the procedure from among the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.
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Caesars invested millions of dollars to beat the step. In many other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given at least one license per handled property.
Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for at least 3 possible licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, companies can either open extra internal books or, more commonly, farm out the license to a rival that pays an accompanying charge in exchange.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting handle market share, could potentially have an upper hand on their competitors by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will earn these slots, but the language around the tally measure would seem to prefer the two nationwide market leaders.
Polling earlier in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were boosted by 10s of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of tv and radio ads focused on the profits legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that already spends billions on education annually.