Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters
Missouri citizens approved legal mobile and retail sports betting wagering, allowing controlled books to take bets next year.
The sports betting wagering ballot measure gone by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri enable mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis metro locations with Missouri, respectively.
Missouri is the 39th state to approve legal sportsbooks and the 31st to green light statewide mobile sports betting. It is the only state to authorize sports betting wagering this year.
" Missouri has a few of the very best sports betting fans on the planet and they showed up huge for their preferred teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a declaration. "On behalf of all six of Missouri's expert sports betting franchises, we wish 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 and guarantees we no longer lose important tax profits to our neighboring states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 indicates a brand-new, devoted, long-term funding stream for Missouri classrooms."
Missouri sports betting next actions
Voter approval suggests up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 available licenses are utilized.
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DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will unquestionably apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses offered without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying charge).
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Six licenses are available to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the tally procedure, will likely utilize its license to launch the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely release their particular books.
The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains uncertain if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.
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The staying six licenses are booked for each of the major 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 organizations were among the most prominent supporters of the ballot step.
In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers need to expect other leading nationwide brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.
Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting:
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Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Live In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Hard Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars
Missouri's tally procedure allows every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the six casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as sports betting kiosks and potentially devoted, full-service sportsbooks.
The 6 sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing venues. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.
The language around the tally measure needs the very first certified sportsbooks to begin accepting wagers by Dec. 1, 2025. Operators will likely work with regulators to go live before kick-off of the fall 2025 football season, perennially books' most rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
Missouri sports betting background
The effective Missouri sports betting wagering project comes in spite of millions in financing opposing the step from one of the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.
Caesars spent millions of to defeat the step. In many other states that connect online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is approved at least one license per handled residential or commercial property.
Because situation in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of three possible licenses, one for each gambling establishment it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open additional in-house books or, more frequently, subcontract the license to a rival that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting deal with market share, could potentially have a leg up on their rivals by making the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will make these slots, but the language around the ballot step would seem to prefer the 2 national market leaders.
Polling earlier in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a slight lead. Support efforts were strengthened by 10s of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of television and radio advertisements concentrated on the earnings legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that already spends billions on education each year.