If Missouri lawmakers pass a legal sports betting bill, the Show-Me State’s professional sports teams could drop an effort to get a wagering-related measure on this November’s election ballot. That, however, is a big if — and, based on recent history, pretty unlikely to happen.
The Missouri House of Representatives Special Committee on Public Policy met Tuesday and listened to public feedback on House Bill 2331, which would authorize sports betting in the state at its riverboat casinos and online via apps and sites. Either would be an addition to what sports betting is currently legal in Missouri: none.
Yet H.B. 2331 is not the first of its kind to be introduced in the Missouri legislature, as its sponsor, Republican Rep. Dan Houx, noted that similar legislation has passed the House three times in the past two years.
It is in the Missouri Senate where previous bills have died, and that’s likely where H.B. 2331 will meet its demise if there is no change in mood in the chamber.
A costly effort
The legislative deadlock in Jefferson City has prompted Missouri’s professional sports teams to try an end-around the legislature by launching a campaign to place a measure on the state’s general election ballot in November. The proposed constitutional amendment would legalize sports betting in the state in person at its 13 casinos and professional sports facilities, as well as via mobile apps and sites.
It’s bound to be a costly effort, but it could be avoided entirely if Missouri lawmakers act first. State political finance records show DraftKings and FanDuel have already poured $2.5 million in monetary and in-kind support into a committee in support of legalizing sports betting at the ballot box, including a $1.5-million cash contribution from FanDuel on Jan. 22.
“We would gladly suspend that effort if we were able to get legislative approval through this bill,” said Bill DeWitt III, president of the St. Louis Cardinals, during this week’s committee meeting.
Historically bad odds
Nevertheless, if the past is any predictor of future success, the Missouri legislature’s odds of passing a sports betting bill this session are not good. There are now three pieces of wagering-related legislation and counting filed this year in the state’s House of Representatives and Senate, and no guarantee any of them ever become law. That could mean Missourians will have to weigh in on the matter in November via a ballot measure.
Signature-gathering has begun for the measure, with more than 170,000 needed to get it in front of voters. In the meantime, Missouri will remain one of the dozen U.S. states without any legal sports betting.
DeWitt said they are still seeing “pretty staggering numbers” of Missouri citizens crossing state lines to open and activate online sports betting accounts elsewhere. Residents are also trying to gain access to legal sportsbooks outside of Missouri while still in the state, efforts that get blocked by geolocation-detecting software.
“And then what it does is it drives the participants to the illegal marketplace, which is untaxed and unregulated, which is also exploding in Missouri,” DeWitt said. “We would love to see a legalization approach that taxes and regulates this industry and provides much-needed funds not only for education for the bulk of the tax revenues, but also for problem gaming, which, you know, is an unfortunate byproduct sometimes of this particular industry.”
What's in an amendment
If the teams' proposed constitutional amendment makes it to the ballot and passes, Missourians would have to be 21 or older to wager using their new sportsbooks. Wagering on single-game player props would be forbidden if a Missouri-based college is involved in the event.
There could be around 20 brick-and-mortar betting facilities in the state under the proposed measure's provisions. Casino operators and sports teams would also be entitled to one online sportsbook apiece, which could be operated on their behalf by an entity like DraftKings or FanDuel. The state gaming commission could issue up to two standalone mobile sports betting licenses as well.
Applicants for a retail sports betting license would have to pay as much as $250,000 and would have to renew that permit every five years. Mobile licenses would cost up to $500,000 and would be subject to a five-year term. All adjusted sports wagering revenue would be taxed at a 10% rate, and the money raised would help fund education and problem-gambling treatment in the state.
The start date for legal sports betting in Missouri could be no later than Dec. 1, 2025, the proposed amendment says.
