Legalized sports gambling launches in the Show-Me state

By Ben McCarthy

Sports betting finally launches in the Show-Me State, Monday, December 1st, a year after Amendment 2 passed on the ballot by a slim 50.1% vote (a winning margin of less than 3,000 votes). Wagering goes live at midnight, with players, 21 and over, able to access and bet on a variety of professional and college sports.

With eight different mobile Missouri sportsbooks ready to launch, advertisements to entice new customers into the world of sports wagering are coming fast and furious.

DraftKings, which like many of the other Missouri sportsbooks is already live in Kansas, is offering new customers $300 in “bonus bets,” after a measly $5 wager.

Bet365 is ready to pony up a rather appropriate amount of $365 in bonus bets to players putting down $10 ahead of the December 1st launch.

FanDuel tops them all by offering $400 for betting $5 before December 1st.

Missouri Gaming Commission (MGC) Chairman Jan Zimmerman says that her office has been monitoring the influx of ads and offers as part of their efforts as they try to learn from other states’ early mistakes in the world of legalized sports betting.

“If there’s an advantage to being ‘late’ to this, it’s that our staff has been able to reach out to the other states and find the best practices,” Zimmerman said. “Kansas, and other states, have been very helpful in providing information as to what’s working and what’s not.”

Sports betting is now legal in 39 states, along with Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico.

In addition to the mobile apps, sportsbooks will be open at five different Missouri casinos: Hollywood Casino St. Louis, Horseshoe St Louis, Harrah’s Kansas City, Argosy Riverside, River City Casino (St. Louis), and Century Casino (Cape Girardeau).

Amendment 2 was the most expensive ballot issue campaign in state history, with over $54 million spent to sway voters. The pro-sports betting Political Action Committee, “Winning for Missouri Education,” raised over $40 million in October 2024 alone. Two of the most popular online sportsbooks, FanDuel and DraftKings, were responsible for over $19 million of that amount. The opposition spending, “Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment,” raised over $14 million, which included contributors like Harrah’s Kansas City (in an about-face, the casino will be one of five in Missouri that will feature a dedicated sportsbook). The previous campaign record was $31 million in 2006, for the campaign to protect stem cell research. That ballot measure also passed narrowly, with just 51% voting in favor of it. Celebrities, such as Michael J. Fox, brought national attention to the measure.

Amendment 2 mandated a minimum of $5 million per year in funding for “problem gambling,” resources that will be put to good use, according to Jack Cardetti, spokesperson for the Sports Betting Alliance.

“The benefits of regulated, legal sports betting will be apparent to all Missourians, ” Cardetti said. “People in Kansas City were walking a block over to State Line and betting in Kansas the past three years – now that money will stay in Missouri.”

Cardetti, formerly of the Winning for Missouri Education campaign that advocated for Amendment 2, says support for legal sports gambling is incredibly broad throughout the state, and the new framework for gambling beginning on December 1st will end Missourians traveling to border states or using offshore gambling websites with very little safeguards.

“The really nice thing about this is that it’s not going away,” Cardetti. “Sports betting is permanent, and will be a dedicated revenue stream for Missouri Education.”

Cardetti points to the Missouri teacher pay scale as being amongst the lowest in the nation. In April, The National Education Association reported Missouri as ranking 49th in average teacher salary, as well as 49th in average teacher starting salary.

Proponents of Amendment 2 made a number of claims during last year’s campaign that revenues generated from the sports gambling apps will provide tens of millions of dollars to Missouri classrooms. The MGC seems to already be walking back and distancing itself from those latter figures.

Zimmerman, who retired as Raymore, MO police chief in 2022, says she supported the measure, hoping that it raises significant money for education and mental health assistance, but makes no promises tied to a dollar figure.

“Any claims that this will make $100 million or X amount for education are just speculative guesses,” Zimmerman said. “There are so many factors, and there’s a lack of understanding of where the money goes.”

An October 2023 review from the Missouri State Auditor’s office found that sports betting could generate up to $29 million annually for the state. Amendment 2 stated that revenues from sports betting would be taxed at 10%, after deductions for promotions like the “bonus bets” the sportsbooks are leaning into so heavily.

Kansas launched sports betting in September 2022, collecting $7 million in its first fiscal year from the $1.85 billion spent in the Sunflower State. Around 80% of the Kansas sports betting revenues is deposited into the “Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund” (hint: they play at the Truman Sports Complex).

In July, Kansas legislators began discussing changes to the state’s approach to sports gambling after receiving about $17 million from over $2.7 billion in bets during the fiscal year (about 0.6%).

Corey Thone, Director of Social Media and Public Information for the Kansas Lottery, says the bonus bets or “free play” promotions in the apps have definitely eaten into the revenues that would otherwise be allocated to the state, and those contracts with sportsbook providers like Caesar’s and Fanatics will not expire until August 2027.

“That’s the way it’s written up in the contract, but will be up for negotiation in coming years,” Thone said. “The legislature has taken it out of the hands of the Kansas Lottery and will take over those negotiations to determine what the renewal process looks like.”

Thone adds that he hopes that Missouri is focused on keeping the safety and security of customers as their top priority as the launch begins. Sixth District Councilman Jonathan Duncan worries that a 24/7 sportsbook in the pockets of every Missourian can only have a severely negative impact on people, not to mention the effects starting to show up in the sports themselves, as Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have grappled with major betting scandals over the past year, involving both players and coaches.

“Will the revenues justify the ill effects on people and in professional sports?” Duncan asks. “I think it’s a question more people are starting to ask themselves.”

Chairman Zimmerman disagrees with Duncan, adding that her office has not heard any such complaints in the months since the vote.

“At the risk of sounding naive, if there are people that still don’t want this, I’m not hearing those kinds of complaints,” Zimmerman said. “I’m excited to see how things shake out after December 1st.”