The Missouri Gaming Commission has recently made significant strides towards launching its sports gambling program statewide. When Super Bowl LIX kicks off on February 9 in New Orleans, it will have been over three months since Missouri voters narrowly legalized sports gambling in November, making Missouri the 39th state to do so. The Missouri Gaming Commission aims to launch sports gambling in the state by the middle of the year.
“The Super Bowl is only a couple of weeks away,” said Brandon Stanford, a sports fan hanging out at Johnny’s Tavern in the Power & Light District. “We’ve got to go somewhere else to bet on it, and it’s killing some of our enthusiasm.”
Kenneth Love, another patron at Johnny’s Tavern, expressed similar frustration. “I don’t want to go to Kansas to do it,” he said.
“I’m from Missouri. I like to stay over here.” Stanford added, “We’re getting tired of having to drive across the water.”
Missouri Gaming Commission Chair Jan Zimmerman announced that the state is on track to begin issuing licenses “by the end of June.” Zimmerman noted that Missouri’s rollout reached a significant milestone this week when a draft copy of the proposed rules and regulations was forwarded to Governor Mike Kehoe’s office for review. “Part of our timeline was to get those preliminary rules to the governor’s office,” Zimmerman said.
“We’ve met that date, on Jan. 27, those rules went to the governor’s office.”
Zimmerman acknowledged that many Missourians are eager to place wagers from their homes, but she emphasized the extensive work involved in the application process. “The initiative petition gives the Missouri Gaming Commission until Dec.
Missouri nears sports betting launch
1, 2025, to launch. We knew that even June was going to be really aggressive.
The staff has been working nights and weekends to ensure we can meet that deadline.”
All 13 brick-and-mortar casinos in Missouri will have a chance to apply for licenses to offer sports gambling in-person and online, including through mobile apps. The new law also creates sports-gambling districts around the home stadiums of Missouri’s professional sports teams: the Chiefs, Royals, and Current in Kansas City, and the Blues, Cardinals, and St. Louis City SC in St. Louis.
Additionally, the constitutional amendment allows for two licenses unaffiliated with casinos. However, Zimmerman indicated that these licenses won’t necessarily go to major platforms like FanDuel and DraftKings. “We’re going to have a selection process to determine those, whether it’s a point system or something else.
The untethered licenses are an important component, but their number was determined by the initiative.”
Adjusting aspects of sports gambling in Missouri, such as the 10% tax rate or prohibitions on player prop bets involving in-state schools, will be challenging. Any changes would require another statewide vote since the law passed through an initiative petition and constitutional amendment process. Amid the uncertainty, Missouri sports fans remain hopeful.
“I’m just a little jealous,” Stanford said, referring to Kansas’ current sports gambling status, “but we’ve got stuff over here that they can’t do, so it’s all good.”
