Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters

Missouri voters approved legal mobile and retail sports betting, permitting regulated books to take bets next year.

The sports betting tally measure passed by a slim majority early Wednesday morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.

Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri permit 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 sports betting. It is the only state to approve sports betting wagering this year.

” Missouri has a few of the finest sports betting fans on the planet and they appeared big for their preferred groups on Election Day,” Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a declaration. “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 historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax profits to our surrounding states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a brand-new, devoted, long-term funding stream for Missouri class.”

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval suggests approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 readily available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the “yes” campaign and will certainly apply 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 charge).

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the ballot measure, 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 introduce 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 remaining 6 licenses are reserved for each of the major 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 companies were among the most prominent proponents of the .

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers must anticipate other leading national brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market gain access to.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting wagering:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Most 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 measure enables every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering alternatives such as sports betting kiosks and possibly committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their particular 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 tally step requires the first licensed 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 profitable time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The successful Missouri sports betting wagering project comes despite millions in funding opposing the measure from one of the state’s biggest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars invested millions of dollars to beat the procedure. 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 managed residential or commercial property.

Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least three prospective licenses, one for each gambling establishment it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open additional in-house books or, more frequently, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting wagering deal with market share, could potentially have an upper hand on their rivals by making the set of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will earn these slots, however the language around the ballot measure would appear to favor the 2 national market leaders.

Polling previously in the year showed the “yes” vote with a small lead. Support efforts were strengthened by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio advertisements focused on the revenue legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the fans’ ads were deceptive and the 10s of millions of forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that currently spends billions on education yearly.