Missouri sports teams were able to accomplish something the state legislature could not–legalizing sports betting.
The legislature has tried for the past few years, often running into roadblocks and, in some cases, filibusters. However, thanks to a ballot initiative driven by the professional teams in the state, Missouri will soon be offering regulated online and retail sports betting.
It was a very close race with the measure narrowly passing with a mere 7,486 votes more than the opposition. Nearly 3 million Missourians cast a ballot in the decision.
Amendment 2 proposed sports betting licenses for each of the state’s casinos and sports teams as well as two standalone, online-only licenses, allowing for up to 22 operators in the state. The proposed tax rate for the measure was 10%.
The measure sets a Dec. 1, 2025 launch deadline for the industry, though it is possible the industry rolls out before that.
“This is a huge victory for Missouri fans and for the diverse coalition that worked together to pass Amendment 2. Amendment 2 won even despite a historic $14 million spent in opposition – the most ever spent against a Missouri initiative. We are grateful to the Missouri professional sports teams who helped lead this effort and for the broad coalition that made this possible.” said Jeremy Kudon, president of the Sports Betting Alliance.
The Winning for Missouri Education campaign ended up being the most expensive ballot campaign in history, easily besting the previous record of $31 million with around $40 million in campaign donations. By comparison, the campaign against the referendum set a record as the priciest campaign against a ballot initiative, but paled in comparison with $14 million in spending.
Operators like FanDuel, DraftKings and BetMGM joined the major sports franchises in the state to support the measure.
Opponents of the measure surprisingly included Caesars Entertainment, which was reportedly frustrated by a framework allowing a single skin per property.
Many major politicians including newly elected Gov. Mike Kehoe endorsed Amendment 2. Some Democrats opposed the measure out of concern that, with promotional credit deductions, the amount of tax revenue the measure raises could be much lower than anticipated.
Missouri does not have an automatic recount mechanism, but given the close margin, it is always possible that someone requests a recount on the matter. Should someone do that, it would be up to them to fund the recount process. If someone were to ask for a recount, they would have 20 days from today to do so.
