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

The sports betting tally measure 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 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 approve sports betting this year.

" Missouri has a few of the best sports betting fans worldwide and they revealed up big 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 desire to thank the Missouri citizens who made their voices heard by authorizing Amendment 2. This historical vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legislate sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose valuable tax revenue to our surrounding states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 suggests a new, dedicated, long-term funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting next steps

Voter approval implies up to 14 mobile sportsbooks might start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 offered licenses are utilized.

DraftKings and FanDuel funded almost every dollar of the "yes" campaign and will unquestionably 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 team (and pay an accompanying charge).

Six licenses are readily available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally procedure, will likely utilize its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which manages ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will likewise likely release their respective books.

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

The staying 6 licenses are booked for each of the significant 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 companies were among the most popular proponents of the ballot procedure.

In addition to DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers ought to anticipate other leading nationwide brand names including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch probability tiers IF Missouri voters approve 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 step allows every Missouri casino to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 casinos managed by the 6 gambling establishment operators are expected to open in-person wagering alternatives such as wagering kiosks and possibly devoted, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting groups can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their particular home playing venues. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that allow in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the tally step requires the first certified 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 wagering background

The successful Missouri sports betting project comes regardless of millions in financing opposing the procedure from among the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars invested millions of dollars to beat the measure. In the majority of other states that connect online sports betting wagering with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is granted at least one license per handled property.

In that circumstance in Missouri, Caesars would be paid for at least 3 potential licenses, one for each casino it handles. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open extra internal books or, more frequently, subcontract the license to a competitor that pays an accompanying cost in exchange.

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

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

A series of tv and radio ads focused on the profits legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mostly by Caesars, argued the supporters' ads were misleading and the tens of millions of projected dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently spends billions on education yearly.