Missouri House Approves Sports Betting Legislation

After several aborted attempts over the last couple of years, sports betting in Missouri moved one step closer to becoming a reality. The House has just passed the latest sports betting legislation by a vote of 115 to 33.

This is huge news based on prior attempts to get sports betting legislation. There were recent bills that got close to passing, but this was the first bill to get overwhelming support.

Aside from getting support from the House, the new bill is also finding support among all of the state’s major professional sports franchises. That would include the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals (MLB), Kansas City Chiefs (NFL), St. Louis Blues (NHL), and the St. Louis City men's soccer club and Kansas City Current women's club. It’s also worth noting the bill is supported by the state’s retail casinos that would presumably be in line to secure sports betting licenses.

Now, the bill will head to the state Senate. By all accounts, it’s going to be tough to get this bill through the Senate as is. In fact, there is so much other legislation being addressed by the Senate that it's not really clear when this legislation will make it onto the Senate’s calendar. If and when it does get through the Senate, there is a high degree of likelihood that Governor Mike Parson will sign the bill.

There is a sense of urgency to get this bill done since Missouri is surrounded by states that have already passed sports betting legislation. That includes Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa, and Tennessee. At this point in the game, it makes no sense for any state to allow another state to rake in tax revenue that was generated from its own residents.

Details About the Current Missouri Sports Betting Legislation

If the bill were to pass as is, Missouri residents would be allowed to wager on professional and college sports games and events. They would not be permitted to wager on any sports below the college level.

Both retail and online sports betting options would be made available. As indicated above, there is a good chance that the state’s retail casinos would be permitted to apply for a sports betting operator’s license. It’s even possible that the state’s sports franchises could be included in the mix in the same way sports franchises in Arizona are included in the mix. More detail about this should be forthcoming in the next couple of months.

In anticipation of the state earning in excess of $150,000,000 in sports betting gross revenue, eight percent (8%) of that would go to the state. Also, the bill addresses using a good portion of the tax revenue to set up programs to address problem gambling issues.

The timing was not addressed in the current bill. However, it’s safe to assume that all interested parties would like to see something done by the end of the year if not sooner. Looking towards the 2023 Super Bowl would certainly be within the realm of possibility.