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

The sports betting ballot measure passed by a slim majority early Wednesday 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 authorize 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 on the planet and they appeared big for their preferred 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 professional 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 legalize sports betting and ensures we no longer lose important tax profits to our neighboring states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a brand-new, dedicated, permanent financing stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

Voter approval suggests as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 offered licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel funded almost every dollar of the "yes" project and will certainly use 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 gambling establishment or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying charge).

Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the tally procedure, will likely use its license to launch the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles 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 unclear if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.

The remaining six licenses are reserved for each of the major expert sports betting groups 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 proponents of the tally step.

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors must anticipate other prominent national brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market gain access to.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting:

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

Missouri's tally procedure permits every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the six gambling establishment operators are expected to open in-person wagering alternatives such as wagering kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

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

The language around the ballot measure needs the first licensed 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, perennially books' most profitable time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

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

Caesars invested millions of dollars to beat the step. In most other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given at least one license per handled residential or commercial property.

Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for a minimum of three prospective 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 additional internal 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. across the country sports betting deal with market share, could possibly have an upper hand on their competitors by earning the pair of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will make these slots, but the language around the tally step would appear to favor the 2 nationwide market leaders.

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

A series of television and radio ads focused on the revenue legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed largely by Caesars, argued the advocates' ads were deceptive and the tens of countless predicted dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that already invests billions on education each year.