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 tally measure passed by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the eight states bordering Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split 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 wagering. It is the only state to approve sports betting wagering this year.
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" Missouri has a few of the best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared huge for their preferred groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a statement. "On behalf of all six of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax earnings to our surrounding states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a brand-new, dedicated, irreversible financing stream for Missouri class."
Missouri sports betting next actions
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Voter approval implies as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 available licenses are utilized.
DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will certainly use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses readily available without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying cost).
Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the ballot measure, will likely utilize its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely launch their particular books.
The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It stays unclear if they will release mobile sportsbooks.
The remaining 6 licenses are booked for each of the significant expert sports betting groups 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 amongst the most popular supporters of the ballot step.
Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors must expect other leading national brands including BetMGM, bet365, and Fanatics to look for market access.
Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting wagering:
Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
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 ballot measure enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering choices such as wagering kiosks and possibly 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.
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The language around the tally measure 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 rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
Missouri sports betting background
The effective Missouri sports betting wagering project comes regardless of millions in financing opposing the step from one of the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.
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Caesars invested countless dollars to beat the step. In the majority of other states that connect online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given a minimum of one license per handled property.
Because circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of 3 potential 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 internal books or, more frequently, subcontract the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying charge in exchange.
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FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting wagering handle market share, could possibly have a leg up on their competitors by making the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will make these slots, but the language around the tally measure would seem to prefer the two nationwide market leaders.
Polling earlier in the year showed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were boosted by 10s of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of tv and radio ads focused on the income legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were misleading and the tens of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently invests billions on education each year.
