Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters

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

The sports betting wagering ballot procedure gone by a slim bulk 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 consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro locations 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 authorize sports betting wagering this year.

” Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans on the planet and they revealed up huge for their preferred groups on Election Day,” Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement. “On behalf of all 6 of Missouri’s expert sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting wagering and ensures we no longer lose important tax profits to our neighboring states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, devoted, irreversible financing stream for Missouri class.”

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval means as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed nearly every dollar of the “yes” project and will unquestionably 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 group (and pay an accompanying fee).

Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the ballot procedure, will likely use its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles 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 stays unclear if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.

The staying six licenses are booked for each of the major expert 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 supporters of the ballot procedure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers should anticipate other prominent nationwide brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting wagering:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Most 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 casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering choices such as wagering kiosks and possibly dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting teams can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their respective home playing places. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot procedure requires the first licensed sportsbooks to begin accepting wagers by Dec. 1, 2025. Operators will likely work 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 campaign comes despite millions in funding opposing the measure from one of the state’s largest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars spent millions of dollars to beat the . In many other states that tie online sports betting wagering with a state’s brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is approved a minimum of one license per handled property.

Because situation in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least three possible licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open additional in-house books or, more typically, farm out the license to a rival that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting wagering handle market share, might potentially have an upper hand on their rivals by making the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will make these slots, however the language around the ballot measure would seem to prefer the 2 nationwide market leaders.

Polling previously in the year showed the “yes” vote with a small lead. Support efforts were boosted by 10s of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio ads concentrated on the earnings legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the fans’ advertisements were misleading and the 10s of millions of projected dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently invests billions on education each year.