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

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

Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city 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 approve sports betting this year.

" Missouri has some of the very best sports betting fans in the world 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 expert 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 legislate sports betting wagering and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax earnings to our surrounding states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a new, devoted, irreversible financing stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval suggests as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks could start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 offered licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel funded 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 two "untethered" licenses available without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying cost).

Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the tally procedure, will likely utilize its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely launch their particular books.

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

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

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers should expect other prominent nationwide brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market gain access to.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri voters authorize sports betting wagering:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Highly 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 measure allows every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the six casino operators are expected to open in-person wagering options such as wagering kiosks and potentially committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The 6 sports betting groups can also 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 permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally 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, continually books' most lucrative time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

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

Caesars spent countless dollars to beat the measure. In most other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted a minimum of one license per handled residential or commercial property.

Because circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for at least three possible licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open extra internal books or, more typically, farm out the license to a rival that pays an accompanying cost 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 rivals by making the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, however the language around the ballot measure would appear to favor the two national market leaders.

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

A series of tv and radio advertisements focused on the profits legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the supporters' ads were deceptive and the tens of countless projected dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently spends billions on education each year.