bit.ly
Missouri voters authorized legal mobile and retail sports betting, allowing regulated books to take bets next year.

The sports betting ballot step passed by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.
bit.ly
Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city 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 best sports betting fans worldwide and they revealed up big for their favorite groups 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 voters who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting wagering and guarantees we no longer lose important 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 wagering next steps

Voter approval suggests as much as 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" project and will undoubtedly use 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 group (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the ballot procedure, will likely use its license to launch the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely launch their particular books.

The other 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains uncertain if they will release mobile sportsbooks.
bit.ly
The remaining six licenses are booked for each of the significant 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 amongst the most popular supporters of the ballot measure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers need to expect other leading national brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market gain access to.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet Very 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 step permits every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 casinos handled by the 6 casino operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering alternatives such as wagering kiosks and possibly committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The 6 sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing places. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among 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 deal 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 project comes despite millions in financing opposing the procedure from one of the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to defeat the step. In a lot of other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given a minimum of one license per handled residential or commercial property.

In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least three potential licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, companies can either open additional in-house books or, more typically, farm out 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 deal with market share, could possibly have an upper hand on their rivals by earning the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, however the language around the tally measure would appear to favor the 2 nationwide market .

Polling earlier in the year showed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were strengthened by 10s of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio ads concentrated on the income legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mostly by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were misleading and the 10s of millions of projected dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that currently spends billions on education yearly.