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.
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The sports betting wagering ballot measure gone by a slim majority early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the eight states surrounding Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas 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 some of the finest sports betting fans on the planet and they appeared huge for their preferred teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a declaration. "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 authorizing Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax revenue to our surrounding states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a brand-new, dedicated, long-term financing stream for Missouri classrooms."
Missouri sports betting wagering next steps
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Voter approval indicates approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 offered licenses are used.
DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" project and will certainly apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses readily available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying cost).
Six licenses are available to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally step, will likely use its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely launch their particular books.
The other 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains unclear if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.
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The remaining 6 licenses are booked for each of the major professional 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 organizations were among the most popular supporters of the ballot step.
Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors should expect other leading national brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.
Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters approve 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 permits every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as sports betting kiosks and potentially committed, full-service sportsbooks.
The six sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their particular home playing venues. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that allow in-stadium retail sportsbooks.
The language around the tally procedure 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 financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
Missouri sports betting background
The effective Missouri sports betting project comes regardless of millions in funding opposing the step from one of the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.
Caesars spent countless dollars to defeat the measure. In the majority of other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is granted at least one license per managed property.
In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for a minimum of 3 possible licenses, one for each it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, companies can either open extra internal books or, more frequently, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting wagering handle market share, could possibly have an upper hand on their rivals by making the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which 2 books will make these slots, but the language around the ballot procedure would appear to favor the two 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 spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of television and radio advertisements concentrated on the revenue legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the advocates' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless projected dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that currently invests billions on education each year.
