Sports Betting Coming to Missouri and South Dakota

It was reported last week that the state legislature in Missouri will be closing its summer session without passing any sports betting legislation. The news was a major disappointment to millions of Missouri residents who have been waiting their entire lives for the opportunity to legally wager on sports from home.

In the latest legislation that died on the floor, it was an attempt to include video lottery terminals (VLT) in the bill that rendered it dead. Not to be deterred, State Sen. Denny Hoskins-R has stated he will again submit a sports betting bill when Congress reconvenes in the winter.

He has stated this will be an all-inclusive bill that will address all of the concerns brought to the floor from the prior legislative attempts. Again, he plans to argue for support of video lottery terminal based on the claim it will bring $250 million annually into the state's coffers with the revenue to be directed for K-12 education.

When he presents the new legislation, he will have to somehow find a way to get around the concerns of Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz-R. Schatz decides which legislation makes it to the floor, and he is decidedly anti-VLT. Regardless of what happens with any new sports betting legislation, Missouri residents won't be legally betting on sports until at least 2022.

South Dakota Ready to Move Forward on Sports Betting

On the sports betting front, everything has been pretty quiet in the state of South Dakota. Apparently, things have not been so quiet as it looks like the state has already approved the legalization of sports betting for the residents of South Dakota.

While the base bill has been passed, work is still being done on the rules that will be used to guide the SD Commission on Gaming (SDCG). The hope is the final rules will be approved by no later than August 2. Assuming the legislature is able to meet that deadline, the SDCG is expected to approve operators by no later than September 8, 2021.

That's an interesting date of some note. Why? The following day, September 9th is the first day of the NFL regular season. That would put immediate pressure on approved sports betting operators to hurry to get the sports betting infrastructure in place in one day.

Realistically, that should not be a major problem for the top U.S. bookmakers like DraftKings, BetMGM, BetRivers, Twinspires, and Fanduel. All of these bookmakers are now well versed in getting sports betting operations in place at the state level. In all likelihood, a number of top online bookmakers are already working behind the scenes in preparation for the September 9 start date. By then, it should be pretty clear which bookmakers will be getting the green light. When they get the nod to move forward, all that will be left for the operators to do is flip the switch.

A betting man would wager that South Dakota residents will be betting on the first NFL game of the season.