Voters Will Answer the Sports Betting Question in Missouri

August 28, 2024

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It's been a long journey for Missouri legislators to get the state in a position to possibly pass retail and online sports betting legislation. After much discussion, a sports betting initiative was launched earlier this year. The initiative was designed to allow for the amending of the state constitution to permit and tax said sports betting activities.

The legislative directive was for the “Winning for Missouri Education” group to collect a minimum of 180,000 signatures from registered. With a deadline of May 5, 2024, the mission was successfully accomplished, leaving one final step before the initiative could be placed on the ballot for the November 5 election.

On August 15, that final step was taken as Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft officially certified the amendment. Voters will get the chance to say yea or nay later this year.

Amendment Details

Compared to other states in the Midwest region, there is nothing extraordinary about this amendment. Here's a look at a free of the key details:

• A tax rate of 10% would be charged against gross sports betting revenue


• $5 million per annum of the revenue would be set aside for problem gambling resources


• Missouri's six (6) major sports league teams would be eligible for licensing


• Remaining tax revenue would go to public school programs


• Independent online sports betting operators could apply for licensing
  

As mentioned, the state's six (6) major sports league teams would be granted the right to pursue branded sports betting licenses. That would include these teams:

• Kansas City Chiefs (NFL)


• Kansas City Current (women's soccer)


• Kansas City Royals (MLB)


• St. Louis Blues (NHL)


• St. Louis Cardinals (MLB)


• St. Louis City SC (MLS)
  

It's noteworthy that the owners of each of these sports franchises have been squarely behind bringing sports betting to Missouri residents. In a statement released to the press, Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals offered up these words:

“Missouri is now just one step away from joining most other states in legalizing sports betting and being able to provide millions of dollars to Missouri classrooms. On behalf of all six of Missouri’s professional sports teams, I would like to thank everyone who signed a petition to get this on the ballot.”

New retail Casino Proposal Fails

While enough signatures were collected for sports betting, the same could not be said of a separate piece of casino legislation. A proposal for the approval of a new retail casino on the Osage River (Lake of the Ozarks) fell short of the signatures needed by 2K+.

This would be a retail casino project that would rival a prior proposal regarding a planned Osage Nation casino. The project, which was put forth by Osage River Gaming, only received enough signatures in five (5) of the six (6) required congressional districts. Reorganization efforts are currently underway.