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

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

Seven of the eight states bordering Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city 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 some of the finest sports betting fans on the planet and they revealed up huge 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 expert sports betting franchises, we desire 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 wagering and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax profits to our neighboring states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 indicates a new, dedicated, long-term financing stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval suggests up to 14 mobile sportsbooks could start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 offered licenses are used.

DraftKings and FanDuel funded nearly every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will certainly use to take bets in the Show Me State. They will likely each pursue the 2 "untethered" licenses readily available without having to partner with a Missouri brick-and-mortar gambling establishment or sports betting group (and pay an accompanying charge).

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 likewise likely launch their particular books.

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

The staying 6 licenses are scheduled for each of the major professional sports betting teams that play home video 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 proponents of the ballot procedure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers must expect other leading national brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting:

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

Missouri's ballot measure permits every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the 6 gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting choices such as wagering kiosks and possibly committed, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting teams can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or nearby to their respective 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 tally measure requires the first certified sportsbooks to begin accepting wagers by Dec. 1, 2025. Operators will likely deal 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 background

The effective Missouri sports betting project comes regardless of millions in financing opposing the step from among the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars invested countless dollars to defeat the step. In a lot of other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is given at least one license per managed residential or commercial property.

In that circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of 3 prospective licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open extra internal books or, more frequently, farm out the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying charge in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. nationwide sports betting manage market share, could possibly have a leg up on their competitors by making the set of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, but the language around the ballot procedure would seem to favor the two national 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 tv and radio ads concentrated on the earnings legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded largely by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that already invests billions on education annually.