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

The sports betting ballot procedure gone by a slim bulk 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 includes Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas 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 revealed up big 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 expert sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax profits to our neighboring states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a brand-new, dedicated, long-term financing stream for Missouri class."
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Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval indicates as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks could start accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will unquestionably 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, in spite of opposing the tally procedure, will likely utilize its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely launch their respective books.
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The other 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains unclear if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.
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The staying 6 licenses are reserved for each of the significant professional 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 companies were among the most popular supporters of the ballot procedure.

Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers need to anticipate other leading nationwide brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market gain access to.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet Highly 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 measure enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective homes. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the six gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting choices such as sports betting kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their particular home playing locations. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that enable in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally measure requires the very first certified sportsbooks to start 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 rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.
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Missouri sports betting background
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The successful Missouri sports betting campaign comes in spite of millions in financing opposing the step from among the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to defeat the step. In the majority of other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted at least one license per handled home.
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Because circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of three prospective licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open extra internal books or, more typically, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

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

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

A series of television and radio advertisements focused on the income legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the advocates' ads were deceptive and the tens of countless projected dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that already invests billions on education yearly.