Missouri citizens authorized legal mobile and retail sports betting, permitting regulated books to take bets next year.

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

Seven of the eight states bordering Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro 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 authorize sports betting wagering this year.

" Missouri has some of the best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared huge for their favorite groups 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 desire to thank the Missouri citizens 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 valuable tax income to our neighboring states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a new, dedicated, permanent funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval suggests approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks might start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 available licenses are used.

DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" project and will certainly apply 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 gambling establishment or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the ballot measure, 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 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It stays uncertain if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.

The staying 6 licenses are scheduled for each of the major professional 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 organizations were amongst the most popular supporters of the ballot measure.

Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers ought to anticipate other leading national brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market gain access to.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri voters 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 allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the six gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering alternatives such as sports betting kiosks and possibly committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The 6 sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their respective home playing venues. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that enable in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot measure requires 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 financially 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 among the state's largest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to defeat the measure. In many other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given at least one license per managed property.

In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be managed at least 3 prospective licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open additional in-house books or, more commonly, farm out 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, could possibly have an upper hand on their rivals by making the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which two books will earn these slots, however the language around the tally procedure would appear to favor the two national market leaders.

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

A series of tv and radio advertisements focused on the earnings legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the advocates' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless projected dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently invests billions on education each year.

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