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

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

Seven of the 8 states bordering Missouri allow 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 sports betting. It is the only state to approve sports betting wagering this year.

" Missouri has a few of the very best sports betting fans in the world and they appeared big for their favorite groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a statement. "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 authorizing Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose important tax income to our neighboring states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 means a new, dedicated, irreversible funding stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

Voter approval indicates approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 readily available licenses are used.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" project and will unquestionably apply to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the two "untethered" licenses readily available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying fee).

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, in spite of opposing the tally step, will likely utilize its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely release their particular books.

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

The staying six licenses are reserved for each of the major 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 amongst the most prominent supporters of the tally measure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers need to expect other prominent national brands 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, Hard Rock, Circa
Opposed Referendum But Still Might: Caesars

Missouri's tally procedure enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 casinos handled by the 6 gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering choices such as sports betting kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their particular home playing venues. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that enable in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot step needs the very 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, perennially books' most profitable time of the sports calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The effective Missouri sports betting project comes despite millions in funding opposing the procedure from among the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars invested millions of dollars to defeat the procedure. In many other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given at least one license per handled home.

In that situation in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of 3 prospective licenses, one for each gambling establishment 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 frequently, subcontract the license to a rival that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.

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

Polling earlier in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were reinforced by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio advertisements focused on the earnings legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mainly by Caesars, argued the supporters' ads were misleading and the 10s of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that already invests billions on education yearly.