Missouri voters approved legal mobile and retail sports betting, allowing controlled books to take bets next year.
The sports betting wagering ballot step passed by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the eight states bordering 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 wagering this year.
" Missouri has some of the best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared big 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 wish to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose important tax profits to our neighboring states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a new, dedicated, irreversible funding 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 unlikely all 14 offered licenses are utilized.
DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" project and will undoubtedly 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 casino or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying cost).
Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the ballot step, will likely use its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely introduce their particular books.
The other 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It stays uncertain if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.
The staying 6 licenses are reserved 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 organizations were amongst the most popular advocates of the ballot procedure.
In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers need to anticipate other prominent national brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.
Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting:
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 ballot measure allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting options such as wagering kiosks and possibly committed, 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 join 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 certified sportsbooks to start 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 rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
Missouri sports betting wagering background
The successful Missouri sports betting project comes regardless of millions in financing opposing the procedure from one of the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.
Caesars spent millions of dollars to defeat the measure. In most other states that tie online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is approved a minimum of one license per handled home.
In that circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for a minimum of three possible licenses, one for each gambling establishment it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open additional internal books or, more commonly, 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 manage market share, could possibly have a leg up on their rivals by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will make these slots, but the language around the tally step would appear to prefer the two nationwide market leaders.
Polling previously in the year showed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were reinforced by 10s of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of tv and radio ads concentrated on the income legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed largely by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were misleading and the 10s of countless predicted dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that currently invests billions on education annually.
