Missouri voters authorized legal mobile and retail sports betting, permitting managed 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.
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Seven of the 8 states bordering Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis metro locations with Missouri, respectively.
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Missouri is the 39th state to approve legal sportsbooks and the 31st to green light statewide mobile sports betting. It is the only state to approve sports betting wagering this year.

" Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared big for their preferred groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement. "On behalf of all six of Missouri's expert sports betting franchises, we want to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax profits to our surrounding states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 indicates a new, dedicated, irreversible funding stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting next actions

Voter approval suggests approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 readily available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost 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 readily available without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the ballot step, will likely use its license to launch the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely launch their respective books.

The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains uncertain if they will release mobile sportsbooks.
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The remaining six licenses are reserved for each of the significant professional 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 among the most popular proponents of the ballot measure.

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors need to anticipate other prominent nationwide brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting wagering:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet 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 casinos managed by the 6 casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting options such as wagering kiosks and possibly devoted, full-service sportsbooks.
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The six sports betting groups can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing locations. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that allow in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot procedure needs 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, perennially books' most financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
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Missouri sports betting background

The effective Missouri sports betting wagering campaign comes in spite of millions in funding opposing the measure from one of the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to beat the step. In the majority of other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted a minimum of one license per managed home.

In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded a minimum of 3 potential licenses, one for each gambling establishment it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open additional internal books or, more frequently, subcontract the license to a competitor 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 competitors 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 procedure would appear to prefer the two national market leaders.

Polling previously in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a slight lead. Support efforts were bolstered by 10s of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio advertisements concentrated on the sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the advocates' advertisements were deceptive and the 10s of millions of forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that already spends billions on education yearly.