Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters
Missouri voters approved legal mobile and retail sports betting wagering, allowing regulated books to take bets next year.
The sports betting wagering ballot procedure passed by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the eight states surrounding Missouri enable mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city locations 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 on the planet and they appeared huge for their favorite teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a declaration. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting wagering and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax income to our neighboring states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a brand-new, dedicated, permanent funding stream for Missouri class."
Missouri sports betting next actions
Voter approval means approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 readily available licenses are utilized.
DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will undoubtedly use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the 2 "untethered" licenses available without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying charge).
Six licenses are offered to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the ballot measure, will likely utilize its license to 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 major expert sports betting teams that play home video 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.
Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers should anticipate other leading national brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.
Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting wagering:
Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Reside In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Hard Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars
Missouri's tally measure enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 casinos handled by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering alternatives such as wagering kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.
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The 6 sports betting teams can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or surrounding to their particular home playing places. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that allow in-stadium retail sportsbooks.
The language around the tally step needs 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, perennially books' most lucrative time of the sports betting calendar.
Missouri sports betting wagering background
The successful Missouri sports betting campaign comes regardless of millions in funding opposing the measure from among the state's biggest gambling stakeholders.
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Caesars invested millions of dollars to defeat the measure. In a lot 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 managed residential or commercial property.
Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for at least 3 possible licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open extra in-house books or, more typically, subcontract the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying charge in exchange.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting handle market share, could potentially have an upper hand on their rivals by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which 2 books will make these slots, but the language around the tally step would appear to prefer the 2 nationwide market leaders.
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Polling earlier in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were strengthened by tens of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of tv and radio ads focused on the profits legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded largely by Caesars, argued the fans' ads were deceptive and the 10s of countless projected dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that already spends billions on education yearly.