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

The sports betting ballot procedure gone 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 authorize 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 showed up big for their preferred groups on Election Day," Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, said in a declaration. "On behalf of all 6 of Missouri's expert sports betting franchises, we wish to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting wagering and guarantees we no longer lose important tax income to our neighboring states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a brand-new, devoted, irreversible financing stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting next actions

Voter approval means as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks might begin accepting bets next year. It is not likely all 14 readily available licenses are used.

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

Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally procedure, 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 release their respective books.

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

The remaining 6 licenses are booked for each of the significant professional sports betting teams 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 organizations were among the most popular proponents of the ballot measure.

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

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting:

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

Missouri's ballot measure enables every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular homes. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the six gambling establishment operators are anticipated to open in-person wagering alternatives such as sports betting kiosks and potentially devoted, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting teams can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective 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 procedure requires the very 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 profitable time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting background

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

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

Because situation in Missouri, Caesars would be managed a minimum of three possible licenses, one for each gambling establishment it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property model, companies can either open extra in-house books or, more typically, farm out the license to a rival that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

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

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

A series of television and radio ads focused on the income legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, moneyed mostly by Caesars, argued the supporters' ads were deceptive and the 10s of millions of projected dollars raised would have a minimal effect in a state that already spends billions on education every year.