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

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

Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri enable 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 approve sports betting this year.

" Missouri has a few of the finest sports betting fans in the world and they revealed up 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 historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose important tax income to our surrounding states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, devoted, irreversible financing stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

Voter approval implies approximately 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 readily available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed 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 readily available without needing to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar casino or sports betting team (and pay an accompanying charge).

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the tally measure, 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.

The other three operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It remains unclear if they will introduce 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 amongst the most prominent supporters of the tally measure.

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors should expect other leading nationwide brands 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
Most likely: Fanatics, bet365, ESPN BET
Are Already Live 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 residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 casinos handled by the six casino operators are expected to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as wagering kiosks and possibly committed, full-service sportsbooks.

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

The language around the tally measure requires the very 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 financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

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

Caesars invested millions of dollars to beat the step. In the majority of other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is approved at least one license per managed property.

In that situation in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of three potential licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, business can either open extra internal books or, more frequently, subcontract the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying fee in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting handle market share, could potentially have a leg up on their competitors by earning the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which two books will make these slots, however the language around the tally procedure would seem to favor the 2 national market leaders.

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

A series of tv and radio advertisements concentrated on the profits legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mostly by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were deceptive and the 10s of millions of projected dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that already spends billions on education annually.