Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters
Missouri voters approved legal mobile and retail sports betting, permitting managed books to take bets next year.
The sports betting wagering ballot procedure passed by a slim majority early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro 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 this year.
" Missouri has a few of the very best sports betting fans on the planet and they showed up big for their favorite teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a declaration. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's expert sports betting franchises, we want to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting wagering and guarantees we no longer lose important tax revenue to our surrounding states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a new, devoted, permanent financing stream for Missouri classrooms."
Voter approval implies as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin 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 readily available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying cost).
Six licenses are available to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the ballot step, will likely utilize its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely introduce their particular books.
The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains unclear if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.
The remaining 6 licenses are reserved for each of the significant expert 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 organizations were amongst the most prominent supporters of the ballot measure.
In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers must expect other prominent nationwide brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.
Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting wagering:
Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet Highly likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET Are Already Live In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Acid Rock, Circa Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars
Missouri's tally measure permits every Missouri gambling establishment to open on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the six casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting options such as wagering kiosks and possibly dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.
The 6 sports betting teams can also open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their respective home playing venues. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that enable in-stadium retail sportsbooks.
The language around the ballot step requires the first licensed sportsbooks to start accepting wagers by Dec. 1, 2025. Operators will likely work with regulators to go live before kick-off of the fall 2025 football season, continually books' most financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
The effective Missouri sports betting project comes regardless of millions in funding opposing the measure from among the state's biggest gambling stakeholders.
Caesars spent countless dollars to defeat the step. In the majority of other states that tie online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is granted a minimum of one license per managed property.
In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be managed at least 3 prospective licenses, one for each gambling establishment it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, business can either open additional in-house books or, more typically, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting handle market share, might potentially have a leg up on their competitors by making the pair of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which two books will earn these slots, but the language around the tally measure would appear to favor the 2 national market leaders.
Polling earlier in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a slight lead. Support efforts were bolstered by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of tv and radio ads concentrated on the revenue legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mostly by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently invests billions on education annually.
