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

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

Seven of the 8 states bordering Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split 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 sports betting. It is the only state to approve sports betting this year.

" Missouri has a few of the best sports betting fans in the world and they appeared huge for their favorite groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's expert sports betting franchises, we wish 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 guarantees we no longer lose important tax revenue to our neighboring states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, devoted, long-term funding stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

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

DraftKings and FanDuel financed nearly 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 readily available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying charge).

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally measure, will likely utilize its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely launch their particular books.

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

The staying 6 licenses are reserved for each of the major 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 organizations were among the most popular supporters of the tally step.

Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers need to anticipate other prominent national brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting wagering:

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

Missouri's ballot step enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 casinos handled by the six casino operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as wagering kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

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

The language around the tally step requires the very first certified 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, continually books' most profitable time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

The effective Missouri sports betting campaign comes despite millions in funding opposing the step from among the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars invested countless dollars to defeat the step. In most other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted at least one license per handled home.

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

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting wagering manage market share, might potentially have a leg up on their rivals by making the set of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will earn these slots, however the language around the tally step would seem to favor the two national market leaders.

Polling earlier in the year showed the "yes" vote with a slight 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 mainly by Caesars, argued the fans' ads were misleading and the tens of millions of predicted dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that already spends billions on education annually.