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After a highly-contested election, a constitutional amendment passing by a razor-thin margin, and years of legislative turmoil in the Show-Me State, Missouri sports betting has finally received approval from state voters to launch in 2025.
Missouri sports betting is now statutorily required to launch in the state by Dec. 1, 2025, but will likely launch sooner than the approved deadline, according to state gaming regulators.
The Missouri Board of State Canvassers, which includes Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Judge Jon Beetem and Judge Daniel Green, last week certified the results of the Nov. 5 general election. No recount request has been made within the necessary seven-day window, so all results are now official.
Sports Betting Likely By Late-Summer 2025
Voters approved the sports betting amendment by 1,478,652 yes votes (50.05%) to 1,475,691 no votes (49.95%), passing the amendment by just 2,961 total votes. Missouri will become the 39th state in the country to legalize sports betting and the 31st to approval online sports betting as well.
Despite the close results, Missouri has no automatic recount laws. The amendment’s 0.1% margin of victory did qualify it for a recount, but no individual made a recount request within seven days of the certification.
Missouri must launch sports betting by Dec. 1, 2025, but according to Jan M. Zimmerman, chair of the Missouri Gaming Commission, it will likely happen much sooner than the deadline. Zimmerman said the gaming commission is looking at the summer of 2025 as a potential launch time for sports betting, to have the markets up and running before the start of the lucrative football season.
It takes a state about eight months on average from its sports betting approval to its sports betting launch. The gaming commission will be able to begin work this month, so if the average of eight months to launch stands, the state could be looking at start around August 2025.
The approval of the sports betting amendment will allow each professional Missouri sports franchise and land-based casino to be eligible for one retail sports betting license and one online sports betting license each. Each individual team and casino will also be able to partner with up to one online sports betting operator.
In total, the state can see 19 retail sports betting licenses and 21 online sports betting licenses under this framework.
The state has set its sports betting tax rate at 10% and will allow for promotional deductions against sports betting revenues. It’s estimated by sports betting proponents that the state could see upwards of $28.9 million annually in sports betting tax revenues.
Who Will Operate in Missouri?
While the work to begin licensing has yet to start, we can make some predictions on who will be awarded sports betting licenses in the state. Each casino and Missouri sports franchise can apply for a retail and online sports betting license under the bill’s regulatory framework. Caesars Entertainment, PENN Entertainment, Boyd Gaming, Affinity Interactive, and Century Casinos each own brick-and-mortar casinos in the state.
This means that Caesars Sportsbook and ESPN BET will likely apply for online sports betting licenses in Missouri. As per previous reports, it has been highly suggested that DraftKings and FanDuel are in line to receive the two untethered online sports betting licenses.
There are currently several sports betting partnerships or existing relationships in the state already. A look at the landscape of potential Missouri sports betting apps is as follows:
- Kansas City Chiefs: DraftKings and BetMGM.
- Century Casinos: Company has a sports betting partnership with bet365. Owns two casinos in the state.
- PENN Entertainment: Partnership with ESPN BET. Company has three casinos in the state
- Caesars Entertainment: Caesars Sportsbook. Company has three casinos in the state.
- Bally’s Casino in Kansas City: Bally Bet
- Boyd Gaming: Boyd Sports
Additional partnerships will be developed with sports betting operators as teams, casinos seek out licensure.
Robert is an expert on sports betting in the United States, specifically the legalization process and regulation surrounding the industry.
