Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters

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

The sports betting wagering ballot step passed by a slim bulk early Wednesday 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 divided the Kansas City and St. Louis city 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 approve sports betting this year.

" Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans on the planet and they revealed up big for their favorite groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a statement. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by approving 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 significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a new, devoted, permanent funding stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting next actions

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

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will undoubtedly use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses available without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally procedure, will likely utilize its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely release their respective books.

The other 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It stays uncertain if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.

The remaining 6 licenses are scheduled for each of the major professional sports betting groups 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 companies were among the most prominent advocates of the ballot step.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors ought to anticipate other prominent nationwide brand names including 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 ballot procedure allows every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the 6 gambling establishment operators are expected to open in-person sports betting choices such as wagering kiosks and potentially committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their particular home playing venues. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot measure needs the very first certified 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 rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

The effective Missouri sports betting campaign comes in spite of millions in funding opposing the procedure from one of the state's largest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to beat the step. In a lot of other states that connect online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is approved a minimum of one license per managed home.

In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded a minimum of three potential licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, business can either open extra internal books or, more frequently, subcontract the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.

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

Polling previously 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 concentrated on the income legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mainly by Caesars, argued the were misleading and the 10s of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that already spends billions on education every year.