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

The sports betting wagering ballot measure 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 permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis metro locations 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 approve sports betting this year.

" Missouri has some of the finest sports betting fans worldwide and they revealed up huge for their favorite 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 professional sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting wagering and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax profits to our surrounding states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a new, dedicated, long-term funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting next actions

Voter approval implies up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin 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 use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses offered without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying fee).

Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the ballot 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 release their particular books.

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

The remaining six licenses are scheduled for each of the major 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 organizations were among the most prominent advocates of the tally step.

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

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting wagering:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
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 procedure enables 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 possibly committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting teams can also open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their particular home playing places. 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 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 lucrative time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

The successful Missouri sports betting project comes despite millions in financing opposing the step from among the state's biggest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars invested countless dollars to beat the step. In a lot of other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is granted at least one license per managed home.

Because situation in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded a minimum of three possible licenses, one for each gambling establishment it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, companies can either open extra internal books or, more typically, subcontract 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 handle market share, might possibly have an upper hand on their rivals by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, but the language around the ballot step would seem to favor the 2 national market leaders.

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

A series of television and radio ads concentrated on the income legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the advocates' ads were misleading and the tens of millions of forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that currently invests billions on education annually.