Missouri citizens authorized legal mobile and retail sports betting, allowing 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 bordering Missouri enable mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis city areas with Missouri, respectively.

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 some of the very 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 declaration. "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 historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting wagering and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax revenue to our neighboring states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 indicates a brand-new, devoted, irreversible financing stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

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

DraftKings and FanDuel funded almost every dollar of the "yes" project and will unquestionably apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses offered without having 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 casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the ballot procedure, will likely use its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely release their particular books.

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

The staying 6 licenses are booked for each of the major professional sports betting teams 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 companies were among the most prominent supporters of the ballot measure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers ought to anticipate other prominent nationwide brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting wagering:

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

Missouri's tally measure enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the 6 gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting choices such as wagering kiosks and potentially committed, full-service sportsbooks.

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

The language around the tally procedure requires the 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 background

The effective Missouri sports betting campaign comes in spite of millions in financing opposing the measure from among the state's largest gambling stakeholders.

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

Because circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for a minimum of three potential licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open additional internal books or, more frequently, subcontract 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, might potentially have an upper hand on their competitors by earning the set of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, however the language around the ballot measure would seem to prefer the two national market leaders.

Polling earlier in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were boosted by tens of millions spent 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 advocates' ads were misleading and the 10s of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that already invests billions on education yearly.