Missouri voters approved legal mobile and retail sports betting wagering, permitting managed books to take bets next year.

The sports betting wagering tally procedure gone by a slim bulk early Wednesday early morning after more than 2.9 million votes were counted.

Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro 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 approve sports betting this year.

" Missouri has a few of the best sports betting fans on the planet and they appeared big for their preferred groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a declaration. "On behalf of all six of Missouri's expert 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 and ensures we no longer lose important tax income to our neighboring states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a new, dedicated, irreversible financing stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting next steps

Voter approval implies up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin 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 undoubtedly apply 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 casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the ballot procedure, will likely use its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely introduce their particular books.

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

The staying six licenses are reserved for each of the significant expert sports betting teams 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 supporters of the ballot step.

Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors ought to anticipate other prominent nationwide brand names including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting:

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

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

The six sports betting groups can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or surrounding to their respective home playing places. Missouri will sign up with 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 start accepting wagers by Dec. 1, 2025. Operators will likely work 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 background

The successful Missouri sports betting wagering campaign comes despite millions in financing opposing the step from one of the state's largest gambling stakeholders.

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

In that circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded a minimum of three prospective licenses, one for each gambling establishment it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open extra internal books or, more typically, subcontract 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 a leg up on their rivals by earning the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which two books will earn these slots, however the language around the tally measure would appear to favor the two nationwide market leaders.

Polling previously in the year showed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were strengthened by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of tv and radio advertisements concentrated on the income legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mainly by Caesars, argued the advocates' ads were misleading and the tens of countless projected dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that already spends billions on education annually.