Missouri voters were given the opportunity to vote on the potential regulation of sports betting in the state but election results on the issue are narrower than expected.
Earlier this month, nearly 3 million Missourians voted in the state’s election that included a ballot initiative on the legalization of sports betting. The ballot initiative, Amendment 2, proposes the authorization of sports wagering licenses for each of Missouri’s casinos and sports teams with up to 22 operators authorized to operate across the Show-Me State.
Following the Nov. 5 vote, Amendment 2 was expected to pass by 7,486 votes but official results are expected to be within a smaller margin ahead of certification next month.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a sports betting ballot initiative this close,” Spectrum Gaming Capital Senior Advisor Matt Para told the Columbia Missourian earlier this week.
As of Nov. 21, Amendment 2 has garnered 1,468,306 votes in favor of regulated sports betting in Missouri with 1,463,940 votes against wagering in the Show-Me State. The near 50/50 split includes data from all 3,572 precincts made available to Missouri voters.
The margin is within 0.5%, the minimum required to request a recount. According to the Missouri Independent, the Missourians Against the Deceptive Online Gambling Amendment campaign does not plan to request a recount despite its disapproval.
However, any voter who opposed Amendment 2 has the legal right to request a recount.
The Secretary of State’s office has until Dec. 10 to certify the election results. If the current results stand, Missouri will begin offering sports betting by December 2025.
If sports betting is rejected in Missouri, the Winning for Missouri Education campaign will take a big hit with the more than $40 million allocated toward the support of wagering. The majority of the donations the campaign received were from DraftKings and FanDuel.
