Missouri Sports Betting Ballot Measure Approved By Voters
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Missouri voters approved legal mobile and retail sports betting wagering, allowing regulated books to take bets next year.
The sports betting wagering tally measure gone by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
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Seven of the 8 states bordering Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas with Missouri, respectively.
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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 a few of the best sports betting fans on the planet and they appeared big 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 want 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 ensures we no longer lose important tax earnings to our surrounding states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 indicates a new, dedicated, irreversible funding stream for Missouri classrooms."
Missouri sports betting wagering next steps
Voter approval means approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks could start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 offered licenses are used.
DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will unquestionably use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying fee).
Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally measure, 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 launch their respective books.
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The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains uncertain if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.
The staying 6 licenses are booked for each of the major expert sports betting teams 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 supporters of the ballot procedure.
In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors should expect other prominent nationwide brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.
Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting:
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Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Live In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Acid Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars
Missouri's tally step enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective residential or commercial . Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the six gambling establishment operators are expected to open in-person wagering alternatives such as wagering kiosks and possibly devoted, full-service sportsbooks.
The six sports betting teams can also open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their particular 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 measure requires the very first certified 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, continually books' most lucrative time of the sports betting calendar.
Missouri sports betting background
The effective Missouri sports betting wagering campaign comes regardless of millions in financing opposing the step from one of the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.
Caesars spent millions of dollars to beat the step. In a lot of other states that connect online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted at least one license per handled residential or commercial property.
Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least three potential licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open extra in-house books or, more typically, subcontract the license to a rival that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.
FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting wagering manage market share, could potentially have a leg up on their rivals by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which two books will make these slots, but the language around the ballot step would appear to prefer the 2 nationwide market leaders.
Polling previously in the year showed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were strengthened by 10s of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.
A series of tv and radio ads focused on the revenue legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed largely by Caesars, argued the fans' ads were deceptive and the 10s of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that already spends billions on education each year.
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