Missouri Voters Legalize Sports Betting in a Historic Close Call

Voters in Missouri made a recent decision to legalize sports betting across the state of Missouri. The voting ran close with those in favor sitting at around 50.128% or 1,469,866 voters in favor. Those opposed to legalizing sports betting were sitting at 49.872% or 1,462,380. This was known as Amendment 2, which would allow statewide retail and digital sports betting.

What Does It All Mean?

Under Amendment 2, Missouri sports betting would become available on December 1. Still, some questions remain like whether voters will need to use licensed platforms in the state, or if their accounts will be linked to licenses from other states. This was such a close vote that no one knew the results until it arrived at the final ballots from Greene County.

Southwest Missouri had over 55% opposed to the legalization of sports betting. This decision is monumental because Missouri has some of the best sports fans in the world. They always show up to support their favorite teams. Another gambling measure sat on the ballot, but it didn't receive as much warmth as Amendment 2.

It was known as Amendment 5, and the approval of this amendment would have allowed a new casino near Lake of the Ozarks. The rejection of Amendment 5 shows only the third time since 1980 that Missouri voters were against the expansion of gambling in the state. Amendment 5 lost 52% to 48%.

Understanding the Sponsors behind the Campaign

The two biggest online bookmakers, DraftKings and FanDuel helped fund the Winning for Missouri Education Committee, and they pumped over $41 million into the campaign. This amount of cash proved enough to overcome a $14 million opposition campaign that Caesars Entertainment helped to fund. They pulled their TV ads three weeks before the day of the election.

When the polling started, they saw the opposition at an advantage of 20 percentage points.

When will People Be able to Place a Wager?

The new constitutional amendments would soon become law 30 days after the approval. This would mean that people could start sports betting as early as December 5th. Under the Missouri law, all state casinos must sit within 1,000 feet of the Mississippi River or the Missouri River.

How this all emerged was from a long battle of frustration that sat with the General Assembly. An ongoing triangular debate existed where casinos and sports teams were up against gray market vendors who continued to profit from their inaction.

The push to legalize sports betting goes back as far as 2018. Over 35 states have legalized sports betting in some form with every state bordering Missouri having already legalized it except for Oklahoma.

What Can We Expect Next?

The Winning for Missouri Education committee has estimated that the amount wagered in the first five years will be around $21.8 billion. Over 98% of the bets placed will happen in the online environment. The state could earn as much as $134 million in revenue from this, which shows some of the excellent reasons to legalize sports betting.