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

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

Seven of the eight states bordering Missouri enable mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas 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 very best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared big for their favorite teams on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a declaration. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we desire to thank the Missouri voters who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting wagering and ensures we no longer lose important tax earnings to our surrounding states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, devoted, irreversible funding stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting next actions

Voter approval implies up to 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 available licenses are used.

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

Six licenses are available to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the tally step, will likely use its license to release the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely introduce their respective books.

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

The staying 6 licenses are reserved for each of the major expert 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 organizations were amongst the most popular proponents of the ballot procedure.

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers ought to anticipate other leading nationwide brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters authorize sports betting:

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 procedure enables every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their respective properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the six gambling establishment operators are expected to open in-person wagering choices such as wagering kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing places. 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 ballot measure requires the 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 financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

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

Caesars invested millions of dollars to beat the step. In a lot of other states that connect online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is approved a minimum of one license per managed home.

In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least three possible licenses, one for each gambling establishment it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property model, business can either open additional 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 roughly two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting wagering handle market share, could possibly have a leg up on their rivals by making the pair of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which two books will make these slots, but the language around the ballot measure would seem to prefer the 2 national market leaders.

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

A series of tv and radio advertisements focused on the profits legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded largely by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were misleading and the 10s of countless predicted dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently invests billions on education every year.