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

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

Seven of the 8 states bordering Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis city locations 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 huge for their preferred teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement. "On behalf of all six of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we wish 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 guarantees we no longer lose important tax income to our surrounding states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a brand-new, devoted, permanent funding stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting wagering next actions

Voter approval means up to 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 certainly apply 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 cost).

Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the ballot measure, 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 remains uncertain if they will launch mobile sportsbooks.

The remaining 6 licenses are booked for each of the major professional sports betting groups 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 organizations were amongst the most popular advocates of the ballot measure.

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

Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting wagering:

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

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

The 6 sports betting groups can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or surrounding to their particular home playing locations. Missouri will join Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. among jurisdictions that allow 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 work with regulators to go live before kick-off of the fall 2025 football season, perennially books' most rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The successful Missouri sports betting project comes in spite of millions in funding opposing the measure from one of the state's largest gambling stakeholders.

Caesars invested millions of dollars to defeat the step. In many other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is given at least one license per handled property.

Because situation in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded a minimum of 3 possible licenses, one for each gambling establishment it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open extra in-house 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 wagering manage market share, could potentially have a leg up on their rivals by earning the set of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which two books will earn these slots, however the language around the tally procedure would appear to prefer the 2 nationwide market leaders.

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

A series of television and radio advertisements focused on the earnings legal sportsbooks would produce for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of millions of predicted dollars raised would have a minimal impact in a state that currently spends billions on education annually.