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

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

Seven of the eight states bordering Missouri allow mobile or retail sportsbooks. That consists of Kansas and Illinois, which divided the Kansas City and St. Louis city 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 authorize sports betting wagering this year.

" Missouri has some of the best sports betting fans worldwide and they appeared big for their favorite 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 voters who made their voices heard by approving Amendment 2. This historic vote makes Missouri the 39th state to legalize sports betting and guarantees we no longer lose important tax income to our surrounding states. Most importantly, the passage of Amendment 2 implies a new, devoted, long-term funding stream for Missouri class."

Missouri sports betting wagering next steps

Voter approval suggests as much as 14 mobile sportsbooks might start accepting bets next year. It is unlikely all 14 offered licenses are used.

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

Six licenses are available to each Missouri casino operator, respectively. Caesars, despite opposing the tally step, will likely use its license to introduce the Caesars mobile sportsbook. Penn Entertainment, which handles ESPN Bet, and Bally's (Bally Bet) will also likely launch their respective books.

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

The remaining six licenses are scheduled for each of the significant expert 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 amongst the most popular advocates of the ballot measure.

Together with DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars, Missouri wagerers should expect other prominent nationwide brands including BetMGM, bet365, BetRivers and Fanatics to seek market access.

Launch possibility tiers IF Missouri voters authorize sports betting wagering:

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

Missouri's ballot measure allows every Missouri gambling establishment to open retail sportsbooks on their respective residential or commercial properties. Most if not all 13 casinos handled by the 6 casino operators are anticipated to open in-person sports betting options such as sports betting kiosks and potentially dedicated, full-service sportsbooks.

The 6 sports betting teams can also open in-person sportsbooks within or adjacent to their respective home playing venues. 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 measure requires the first certified 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 campaign comes despite millions in funding opposing the measure from among the state's biggest sports betting stakeholders.

Caesars invested countless dollars to defeat the procedure. In most other states that tie online sports betting with a state's brick-and-mortar gambling establishments, an operator is granted at least one license per handled residential or commercial property.

In that scenario in Missouri, Caesars would be afforded at least three possible licenses, one for each casino it manages. Instead, Caesars only has one. In states with the license-per-property design, companies can either open additional in-house books or, more typically, subcontract the license to a rival that pays an accompanying charge in exchange.

FanDuel and DraftKings, which have approximately two-thirds of U.S. across the country sports betting manage market share, might potentially have a leg up on their competitors by earning the set of untethered licenses. It stays to be seen which two books will earn these slots, however the language around the tally procedure would seem to favor the 2 national market leaders.

Polling earlier in the year showed the "yes" vote with a small lead. Support efforts were bolstered by tens of millions spent by DraftKings and FanDuel.

A series of tv and radio advertisements focused on the income legal sportsbooks would create for Missouri public education. Opponents, funded largely by Caesars, argued the supporters' advertisements were deceptive and the tens of millions of predicted dollars raised would have a negligible impact in a state that currently invests billions on education yearly.