Will Sports Betting in Missouri Start in December 2025?

It was a long tough fight to get sports betting legislation passed in Missouri. After several failed attempts, a sports betting amendment, Amendment 2, was passed by voters in November 2024. The razor-thin margin of 50.1% yes and 49.9% no indicated just how difficult it was to bring sports betting to the Show Me state.

It's noteworthy that placement on the November 2024 ballot was largely facilitated by a coalition of Missouri's six pro sports franchises. The coalition rose to the challenge in support of legalizing sports betting by securing 340,000 signatures to make the amendment ballot worthy.

The next step in the process is proving to be just as much of a challenge. The powers to be, the Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) had initially set the state's sports betting launch date for June 30, 2025. Due to the rejection of the MCC's emergency rules by Missouri Secretary of State Denny Hoskins, the June date seems out of the question. A new and preliminary launch date of December 1, 2025, has now been set.

By rejecting the MGC's emergency rules, Hoskins effectively forced the MGC to follow the regular review process for operators, slowing the process down by as much as six (6) months.

The Wait Continues

While Missouri residents will have to wait a little longer for legalized sports betting access, they will continue having access to other forms of online gaming. That includes Daily Fantasy Sports (peer-to-peer only), social and sweepstakes casinos, and the state's Lottery. Regular online casino gambling will remain illegal in the foreseeable future.

When sports betting does go live, residents will have three (3) options:

• Online via mobile apps


• Retail casinos licensed to offer sports betting


• Sports betting kiosks located at pro sports venues and stadiums
  

Indeed, Amendment 2 gives each of the aforementioned pro sports franchises the right to secure sports betting licensing. They will be allowed to run retail sportsbooks within their respective venues. They will further be allowed to partner with existing sports betting operators or develop their own branded platforms. Surely, this is why these sports franchises got heavily involved in getting Amendment 2 on the ballot.

While the regulations authorize the issuance of 21 sports betting licenses, only 19 will be issued initially. Of the 19, one would project that 6 of them will go to the pro sports franchises. So far, the St. Louis Cardinals have partnered with bet365 while the Kansas City Chiefs (NFL) have aligned with BetMGM. Applications are due by August 30, 2025, while a tax rate of 10% of gross revenue has been set.

Note: The other two (2) authorized licenses have been reserved as standalone Category 3 licenses. This will allow two operators to offer online sports betting services without having to partner with a retail casino or pro sports franchise. More information should be forthcoming as the December 1 launch date draws nearer. Registered bettors will need to be 21 years of age or older.