Missouri citizens authorized legal mobile and retail sports betting, permitting controlled books to take bets next year.
The sports betting wagering tally procedure passed by a slim majority early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
Seven of the 8 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 approve sports betting wagering this year.
" Missouri has a few of the finest 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 statement. "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 approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax income to our surrounding states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, dedicated, long-term financing stream for Missouri class."
Missouri sports betting next actions
Voter approval indicates up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might start accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 offered licenses are used.
DraftKings and FanDuel financed 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 offered without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying charge).
Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the tally step, will likely utilize its license to launch 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.
The remaining 6 licenses are reserved for each of the significant 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 companies were among the most prominent advocates of the ballot measure.
In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers ought to expect other leading national brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.
Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri voters authorize 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 step enables every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as wagering kiosks and possibly devoted, full-service sportsbooks.
The 6 sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing locations. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.
The language around the ballot step needs the very first licensed 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 background
The effective Missouri sports betting campaign comes despite millions in funding opposing the procedure from among the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.
Caesars spent millions of dollars to beat the step. In a lot of other states that tie online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is approved at least one license per managed home.
In that circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded a minimum of 3 possible licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open extra in-house books or, more commonly, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting manage market share, could potentially have an upper hand on their competitors by making the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will make these slots, however the language around the tally measure would appear to favor the two nationwide market leaders.
Polling earlier in the year showed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were reinforced by 10s of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of television and radio advertisements concentrated on the profits legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the advocates' advertisements were misleading and the tens of millions of predicted dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently spends billions on education yearly.
