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

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

Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That includes 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 wagering. 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 appeared huge for their preferred groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a statement. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we want 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 and ensures we no longer lose valuable tax profits to our neighboring states. Most significantly, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, devoted, long-term financing stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting next steps

Voter approval indicates up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 available licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed nearly 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 readily available 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 gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally measure, will likely use its license to launch the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely release their respective books.

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

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

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers ought to expect other prominent national brand names consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.

Launch likelihood tiers IF Missouri citizens authorize sports betting:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Highly 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 allows every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the 6 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 surrounding to their particular home playing locations. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that enable in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally procedure needs the first certified sportsbooks to start 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 financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

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

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

Because scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of 3 possible licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open additional in-house books or, more frequently, subcontract the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

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

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

A series of television and radio ads focused on the earnings legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the advocates' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless forecasted dollars raised would have a negligible effect in a state that already spends billions on education yearly.