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

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

Seven of the 8 states surrounding Missouri permit mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which split the Kansas City and St. Louis city 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 wagering this year.

" Missouri has a few of the very best 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 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 legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose important tax profits to our neighboring states. Most notably, the passage of Amendment 2 means a brand-new, dedicated, irreversible funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval suggests up to 14 mobile sportsbooks could begin accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 readily available licenses are used.

DraftKings and FanDuel financed almost every dollar of the "yes" project and will unquestionably use 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 fee).

Six licenses are offered to each Missouri gambling establishment operator, respectively. Caesars, regardless of opposing the tally step, will likely utilize its license to launch the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely introduce their particular books.

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

The remaining 6 licenses are scheduled 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 amongst the most popular advocates of the ballot procedure.

Along with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri bettors should expect other leading nationwide brands consisting of BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to look for market access.

Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri citizens approve sports betting wagering:

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 tally measure allows every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their particular properties. Most if not all 13 gambling establishments managed by the 6 gambling establishment operators are expected to open in-person sports betting alternatives such as wagering kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

The six sports betting teams can likewise open in-person sportsbooks within or surrounding to their respective home playing places. Missouri will sign up with Illinois, Maryland, Arizona, Connecticut, and Washington, D.C. amongst jurisdictions that permit in-stadium retail sportsbooks.

The language around the ballot measure 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, perennially books' most rewarding time of the sports betting calendar.

Missouri sports betting wagering background

The successful Missouri sports betting wagering campaign comes regardless of millions in funding opposing the step from among the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars spent countless dollars to defeat the procedure. In many other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar casinos, an operator is approved a minimum of one license per handled property.

In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least 3 prospective licenses, one for each gambling establishment it manages. Instead, Caesars just has one. In states with the license-per-property design, business can either open extra internal books or, more commonly, 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 deal with market share, might potentially have a leg up on their competitors by making the pair of untethered licenses. It remains to be seen which 2 books will earn these slots, but the language around the ballot step would seem to favor the two nationwide market leaders.

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

A series of tv and radio ads concentrated on the profits legal sportsbooks would generate for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded mainly by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of countless projected dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that already invests billions on education annually.