Missouri citizens approved legal mobile and retail sports betting wagering, permitting regulated books to take bets next year.

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

Seven of the eight states surrounding Missouri allow 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 approve legal sportsbooks and the 31st to green light statewide mobile sports betting. It is the only state to authorize sports betting this year.

" Missouri has a few of the best sports betting fans in the world and they appeared big for their favorite groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, stated in a declaration. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's professional sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri citizens 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 earnings to our surrounding states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 indicates a new, dedicated, irreversible financing stream for Missouri classrooms."

Missouri sports betting next actions

Voter approval suggests up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 offered licenses are used.

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

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the ballot measure, 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 3 operators are Boyd Gaming, Century Casino, and Affinity Interactive. It stays uncertain if they will introduce mobile sportsbooks.

The staying 6 licenses are reserved for each of the significant expert 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 companies were among the most popular proponents of the tally step.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri gamblers ought to anticipate other leading national brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market gain access to.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters approve sports betting wagering:

Guarantees: FanDuel, DraftKings
Locks: BetMGM, Bally Bet
Highly 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 allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments handled by the six casino operators are expected to open in-person wagering choices such as wagering kiosks and potentially devoted, 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. among jurisdictions that permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally step needs the first licensed 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 financially rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

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

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

Because situation in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for a minimum of 3 prospective licenses, one for each gambling establishment it handles. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, companies can either open extra 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 wagering manage market share, might potentially have an upper hand on their competitors by making the pair of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will earn these slots, but the language around the ballot procedure would seem to favor the two national market leaders.

Polling previously in the year revealed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were boosted by tens of millions invested by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of tv and radio ads concentrated on the earnings legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the fans' advertisements were deceptive and the 10s of countless predicted dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that currently spends billions on education each year.