JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Despite the state’s professional teams and record-setting expenditures, a ballot initiative that narrowly passed would allow Missouri sports fans to wager on sports next year.
The sports betting initiative received 50.05% of the vote in the November election, according to certification issued by state election officials on Thursday.
Even though the constitutional change is already in force, betting won’t start right away. Missouri’s proposal mandates that sports betting be introduced by state regulators by December 1, 2025.
Sports betting is already legal in 38 states and Washington, D.C., and its use has grown significantly since the U.S. Supreme Court approved it in 2018.
DraftKings and FanDuel, which control the majority of the national sports betting industry, provided nearly all of the funding for the $43 million campaign, setting a record for a Missouri ballot question. The six biggest professional sports teams in the state—the Kansas City Chiefs, the Kansas City Royals, the St. Louis Cardinals, the St. Louis Blues, and the Kansas City Current and St. Louis City soccer teams—collectively contributed $2 million toward the total amount raised.
FILE – A billboard promoting a ballot measure to legalize sports betting in Missouri is seen along Interstate 44 Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, in St. Louis County, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)
Associated Press/Jeff Roberson photo
Caesars Entertainment, the company that runs three of Missouri’s thirteen casinos, provided all of the funding for the $14 million opposition effort.
When the winning margin is less than 0.5% of the total number of votes cast, Missouri permits recounts on ballot questions. After the election is confirmed, you have seven days to ask for a recount.
In a prior email, a representative for the opposing organization Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment stated that the group has no intention of asking for a recount.
Every casino and professional sports club in Missouri will be able to provide on-site and mobile sports betting thanks to a constitutional change. Within 400 yards (366 meters) of their stadiums and arenas, teams will have authority over on-site betting and advertising. Additionally, the proposal permits the Missouri Gaming Commission to directly license two mobile sports betting providers.
Under the initiative, the remaining tax proceeds must be used for primary, secondary, and higher education, with at least $5 million per year from license fees and taxes going toward problem gambling programs.
After attempts to legalize sports betting in the state Senate continually failed, supporters resorted to the initiative petition procedure to get the measure on the ballot.
Sports betting is legal in the majority of states, although it is illegal in several potentially profitable markets, like Texas and California. Two competing attempts to allow sports betting were defeated by California voters in 2022 after interest groups spent almost $450 million supporting or opposing the projects.
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This report was written by David A. Lieb of the Associated Press.
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