Missouri citizens approved legal mobile and retail sports betting, allowing controlled books to take bets next year.

The sports betting ballot step passed by a slim majority early Wednesday morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.

Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri enable 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 sports betting. It is the only state to authorize sports betting this year.

" Missouri has a few of the finest sports betting fans on the planet and they appeared huge 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 professional sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose important tax earnings to our surrounding states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a brand-new, devoted, long-term funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

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

DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will undoubtedly apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the 2 "untethered" licenses readily available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the ballot procedure, will likely utilize its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely release their particular books.

The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains unclear if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.

The remaining six licenses are scheduled for each of the significant expert 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 amongst the most prominent proponents of the tally procedure.

Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers should expect other prominent nationwide brand names including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri voters authorize sports betting:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Highly likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Reside In Illinois, So Yeah(?): BetRivers, Hard Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars

Missouri's tally measure allows every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the 6 casino operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering alternatives such as wagering kiosks and potentially devoted, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or surrounding to their particular home playing locations. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that enable in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally procedure requires the very first licensed 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, perennially books' most rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The successful Missouri sports betting project comes in spite of millions in funding opposing the procedure from one of the state's largest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to beat the step. In most other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given at least one license per handled residential or commercial property.

Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be managed at least three possible licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open extra in-house books or, more commonly, farm out the license to a rival that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting manage market share, might possibly have an upper hand on their rivals by earning the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will make these slots, but the language around the ballot measure would appear to prefer the two nationwide market leaders.

Polling previously in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were boosted by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio ads focused on the income legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed largely by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of millions of forecasted dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that already invests billions on education each year.