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

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

Seven of the 8 states bordering Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city 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 authorize sports betting wagering this year.

" Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared big for their favorite groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a declaration. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical 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 importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a new, dedicated, permanent funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval means as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks might start accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 offered licenses are used.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed nearly every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will undoubtedly use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses 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 readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the ballot step, will likely use its license to launch the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also 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 remaining 6 licenses are scheduled 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 organizations were among the most popular supporters of the tally procedure.

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

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting:

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 ballot step permits every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the six gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering options such as sports betting kiosks and potentially committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting teams can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent 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 step requires the very 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, continually books' most financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

The effective Missouri sports betting wagering campaign comes despite millions in financing opposing the measure 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 wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is approved at least one license per handled property.

Because circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of 3 possible licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, companies can either open extra internal books or, more commonly, subcontract the license to a rival that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting wagering handle market share, might possibly have an upper hand on their rivals by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will make these slots, but the language around the tally procedure would appear to favor the 2 nationwide market leaders.

Polling previously in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a slight lead. Support efforts were bolstered by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio advertisements focused on the income legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mainly by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were deceptive and the 10s of millions of forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that already spends billions on education annually.