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

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

Seven of the eight states surrounding Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas 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 authorize sports betting this year.

" Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans in the world and they revealed up huge for their favorite teams 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 authorizing Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting wagering and ensures we no longer lose important tax profits to our neighboring states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a new, devoted, long-term funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

Voter approval means as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 available licenses are used.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will undoubtedly apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the 2 "untethered" licenses readily available without needing 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, in spite 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 release their respective books.

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

The staying 6 licenses are booked for each of the significant professional 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 among the most prominent proponents of the ballot procedure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers must anticipate other prominent nationwide brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Most 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 measure enables every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the 6 casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting options such as wagering kiosks and possibly dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can likewise 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 permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally procedure needs the first certified sportsbooks to begin 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 financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The successful Missouri sports betting project comes regardless of millions in financing opposing the procedure from among the state's largest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars invested countless dollars to beat the measure. In the majority of other states that connect online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is granted a minimum of one license per managed property.

In that situation in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for at least 3 potential licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, business can either open extra in-house books or, more commonly, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying charge in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting manage market share, could potentially have a leg up on their competitors by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will make these slots, however the language around the tally measure would seem to prefer the two nationwide market leaders.

Polling previously in the year showed the "yes" vote with a minor lead. Support efforts were bolstered by 10s of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio ads concentrated on the revenue 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 projected dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that already spends billions on education yearly.