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Missouri voters approved legal mobile and retail sports betting wagering, permitting controlled books to take bets next year.
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The sports betting ballot measure passed by a slim bulk early Wednesday morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.

Seven of the eight states bordering Missouri enable mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city areas with Missouri, respectively.
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Missouri is the 39th state to approve legal sportsbooks and the 31st to green light wagering. It is the only state to approve sports betting this year.
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" Missouri has some of the finest sports betting fans on the planet and they showed up big for their favorite teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a declaration. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we desire to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax profits to our neighboring states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a new, dedicated, permanent funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

Voter approval suggests up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 offered licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" project and will undoubtedly apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the 2 "untethered" licenses offered without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying fee).

Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the tally procedure, will likely use its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely launch their respective books.

The other 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It stays uncertain if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.

The remaining 6 licenses are booked for each of the significant expert 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 amongst the most prominent advocates of the tally step.

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers ought to anticipate other prominent national brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market gain access to.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting:

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

Missouri's tally step allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the 6 casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as wagering kiosks and potentially devoted, full-service sportsbooks.

The 6 sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or surrounding to their respective home playing locations. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that allow in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot procedure requires the very first licensed 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 wagering campaign comes regardless of millions in financing opposing the measure from one of the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.
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Caesars invested millions of dollars to beat the measure. In a lot of other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is approved at least one license per handled property.
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In that situation in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded a minimum of 3 prospective licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, business can either open additional internal books or, more frequently, farm out the license to a rival that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting wagering manage market share, could potentially have an upper hand on their rivals by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, but the language around the ballot measure would seem to favor the 2 national market leaders.
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Polling earlier in the year showed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were reinforced by 10s of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio advertisements concentrated on the earnings legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the supporters' ads were misleading and the 10s of millions of forecasted dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently invests billions on education yearly.