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 ballot measure gone by a slim majority early Wednesday 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 split the Kansas City and St. Louis city areas 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 this year.

” Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans in the world and they appeared huge 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 citizens who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting wagering and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax income to our surrounding states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a new, devoted, irreversible financing stream for Missouri class.”

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

Voter approval indicates up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the “yes” project and will unquestionably apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the 2 “untethered” licenses available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino 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 procedure, will likely utilize its license to introduce 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 stays uncertain if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.

The staying six licenses are reserved 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 among the most popular supporters of the ballot measure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors should anticipate other leading national brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market gain access to.

Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Very likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Reside In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Acid Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars

Missouri’s tally step permits every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular homes. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the six casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting choices such as wagering kiosks and possibly devoted, full-service sportsbooks.

The 6 sports betting groups can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing places. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally step needs the very 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, continually books’ most profitable time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

The successful Missouri sports betting wagering campaign comes in spite of millions in financing opposing the step from one of the state’s biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars invested countless dollars to defeat the measure. In the majority of other states that tie online sports betting wagering with a state’s brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted a minimum of one license per handled property.

In that circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for a minimum of three prospective licenses, one for each it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, business can either open extra in-house books or, more typically, subcontract the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting handle market share, could potentially have a leg up on their competitors by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, however the language around the tally measure would appear to prefer the two nationwide market leaders.

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

A series of tv and radio ads focused on the revenue legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mainly by Caesars, argued the advocates’ ads were deceptive and the tens of millions of predicted dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that already spends billions on education annually.