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

The sports betting tally 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 allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis metro locations with Missouri, respectively.

Missouri is the 39th state to approve legal sportsbooks and the 31st to green light statewide mobile wagering. It is the only state to authorize sports betting this year.

" Missouri has a few of the finest sports betting fans in the world and they appeared big for their preferred groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a declaration. "On behalf of all six of Missouri's expert sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting wagering and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax revenue to our surrounding states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a brand-new, dedicated, long-term financing stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting next steps

Voter approval indicates as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely 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 two "untethered" licenses offered without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying charge).

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

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

The staying 6 licenses are reserved 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 organizations were amongst the most popular advocates of the tally procedure.

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers must expect other leading national brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market gain access to.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters authorize sports betting wagering:

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

Missouri's tally step allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the 6 gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering alternatives such as sports betting kiosks and potentially committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The 6 sports betting teams can also open in-person sportsbooks within or surrounding to their respective home playing places. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that allow in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot measure needs the very first licensed 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 profitable time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The effective Missouri sports betting campaign comes in spite of millions in funding opposing the procedure from one of the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

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

Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded 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 typically, farm out the license to a rival that pays an accompanying charge in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting manage market share, might potentially have a leg up 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 procedure 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 10s of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of television and radio advertisements concentrated on the profits legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were misleading and the tens of millions of predicted dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that currently invests billions on education annually.